Deciding to take a break, Hazel, Astrid, and Nycteris strolled through the Fractured City, searching for a place where they could lay low from the Fractured monsters around them. The City was extremely massive and there were plenty of buildings to choose from to use as a hideout.
Although they were doing this to take a break without having monsters attacking them, the trio were also finding a building to act as their safe zone. A place where they could return to while they were still in the city.
This would not only make things easier for them, but also simpler. Otherwise, they would have to move from building to building to hide in it. Turning one of these buildings into their base of operations seemed like their best option in the long run.
Glancing around, Hazel quickly spotted an interesting building over to their left. Situated between two buildings was what appeared to be a worn-down tavern. There were broken boxes and barrels scattered around the front area as if a fight broke out on the tavern’s doorsteps. The wood and stone foundation was covered in cracks and green rot infesting the building, as if the place hadn’t been cleaned or remodeled in years.
“What about that Tavern over there?” Hazel suggested, pointing at the building ahead of them.
Astrid gazed at where Hazel was pointing. She then doubtfully furrowed her brows.
“I don’t know…” She said hesitantly. “It doesn’t look all that safe.”
“And the rest of these buildings are?” Hazel added with a hint of sass.
“Yeah, you got me,” The dark elf rubbed the back of her head while letting out a sigh. “Alright, let’s go check it out.”
Hazel nodded with a satisfying grin before turning to Nycteris. “What do you say, Nycteris?”
“I…will follow you…master.” Nycteris made a low screech while bowing his head.
“Okay, now that we’re all in agreement, onward!” Hazel said, leading the group toward the Tavern with a stride.
The trio made their way to the tavern, doing their best to walk around the broken bits of wood, stone, and glass to not alert any Fractured monsters around them. Getting to the door, Hazel slowly opened it and snuck inside, staying as quiet as possible.
Entering the tavern, Hazel and the others saw the main lobby in a complete mess. There were broken chairs and tables all over the floor along with wooden bowls and plates scattered around the area. It reminded Hazel of the tavern back in the Fractured Town.
However, none of the furniture in this tavern survived, leaving the trio with nothing to sit and relax on.
“It looks like a storm blew past here…” Astrid noted.
“Well, considering that this world was being destroyed due to that Mana Overload thing, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case,” Hazel added.
“Right…”
Thinking back on it, Hazel remembered that when she read some of the Fractured Monster’s descriptions, they talked about some kind of Mana Overload event that destroyed the world, turning it into what it currently was.
Now, she began to wonder what it was like for the people of this world as they witnessed their home slowly self-destruct from the mana overload. What it was like when their bodies began to corrupt and become a Fractured being. What it was like…to become a monster.
She shook her head, ridding any morbid thoughts she just thought of. She didn’t have time to worry about the former lives of the Fractured. She needed to focus on getting home. That and taking a break.
“There could be Fractured Humans, so we need to stay alert,” Astrid informed.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Hazel nodded. “Hopefully, it’s not another Fractured Class. I don’t want another encounter with them while in this place.”
The trio spread out in the Tavern and searched it, making sure that no Fractured Monsters were hiding around. Thankfully, after a little bit of investigating, the group concluded that the place was empty and void of monsters.
Settling that issue, Hazel, Astrid, and Nycteris walked over to the center where all the broken tables and chairs were and sat down, moving any wooden shards on the floor. Plopping down, Hazel let out a sigh along with an irritated groan.
“This dress makes it a little difficult to sit...” She complained.
“You should get used to it after some time,” Astrid assured.
“I’m not really looking forward to that...”
“I certainly am,” The dark elf grinned.
“Would...you like to sit on...top of me, master?” Nycteris asked while lying flat on the ground, gesturing for his master to climb on.
Hazel shook her head while wearing a wry smile. “No, I’m good, Nycteris, but thank you.”
A soft yet depressing screech escaped the Nightwing’s lips, and Hazel had to use all of her will to not feel guilty.
“So, how long do you think we’ll be in this place?” Hazel asked, turning to Astrid.
Astrid paused, tapping her chin while she pondered over Hazel’s question. “That depends on how long it will take us to get Nycteris to level 10. During that time, we should try and level up as much as possible while in this city. How much longer are we supposed to stay here before completing the thirty-day objective?”
Hazel quickly pulled up the Dungeon Tutorial objectives, checking out the duration of their stay.
[Duration: 21 Days]
“We have twenty-one days left.”
Hazel was surprised that nearly ten days passed by already. Then again, she and Astrid had been fighting for their lives ever since they got dumped in this dungeon. When confronted with such dangers and terrors within this dungeon, time felt irrelevant.
“Since there are more than twenty days left, we should spend at least five days or so in the city island. We’ll use that time to get stronger then move on to the next island if possible.”
“Maybe we can just sweep the city. That will definitely use up the time we have here.”
Hazel remembered how she spent a couple of days clearing the town island of monsters. If it took that long to sweep the town, then trying to do the same thing on the city island would take even longer.
The dark elf mused over Hazel’s suggestion. “Yeah, that should be our current goal, then. We’ll exterminate every single monster within this city. Once that’s done, we move on.”
“What if we run into a sub-boss?”
Although it was unlikely, Hazel and Astrid must remember that this dungeon had Sub-Bosses wandering around. Then there was the big bad Dungeon Boss somewhere in this dungeon as well.
Facing a Sub-boss was one thing, but encountering the Dungeon Boss itself was an entirely different story. While it was unknown what the Dungeon Boss level was Hazel assumed that it was over level fifty or maybe even a hundred.
Meaning that if the trio came across the Boss of the Dungeon with their current levels, escaping with their lives would be practically impossible.
“If we’re able to escape, then we leave. And if not…we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Astrid grimly said.
Hazel remained silent, letting her partner’s words sink in. She could tell that Astrid was hesitant to face a boss at their current level. She wasn’t confident that they could win against a Sub-Boss.
In fairness, Hazel wasn’t certain if they could beat one either. Even when they got Nycteris to Level ten, their chances would still be frighteningly low.
Plus, if by chance they were able to defeat a Sub-Boss, that meant that one of the objectives for the tutorial dungeon was met, and they would be teleported back to their world. While that sounded like a good thing, Hazel and Astrid didn’t want to leave this dungeon until they were strong enough for whatever was in store for them after returning home.
Neither player could risk prematurely leaving the dungeon. Even if they were strong enough to defeat the Sub-Boss, it was possible that they would want to spend a little more time in this place before leaving.
“How about this?” Hazel said. “When we only have ten to five days left in this dungeon, we should attempt to take on a Sub-Boss. We’ll likely reach our limit by then, and by defeating the sub-boss, we could get some rewards from killing it.”
Since one of their objectives was killing a Sub-Boss, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that they could be rewarded for doing this. Knowing how the system operated, it was highly possible that this would be the case if they attempted it.
“That could work,” Astrid nodded. “Hopefully, there was a Sub-Boss in this city and we don’t have to bother searching for one.”
Hazel smiled. “So, it’s settled then. We have ten to fifteen days before we attempt to take down a Sub-Boss.”
“That should be plenty of time,” The dark elf grinned back.