“You are too scrawny to be an orc. An orc, goblin, or ogre wouldn’t hide their appearances too, so what are you?”
“None of your business.”
“You are probably right, but I still have to know what you are since I have this feeling that you can probably kill me if I mess up. Tell you what, you don’t have to show me your face. Show me your willy and then I will be able to tell what you are. Hahahaha!”
I stepped away even more from that guy. He was all sorts of bad news, even if that was a joke.
“It was a joke, of course. Hahahaha! If you are strong and can help us leave this shithole, that is all that matters!”
I didn’t remember hearing much about the people from the Skarnash tribe lands being that open-minded to other people, but it was true that they respected strength above anything. It was also possible that they truly needed all the help they could get given the situation they were in. Having more help was always a good thing in a place like this.
However, I soon recalled my score when it came to making allies. Aside from the second group that profited a lot from me, all the others ended up in a bad situation. One tried to sell me out, another almost got me caught in an assassination attempt, another swore to kill me for something I wasn’t related to and the last tried to kill me like I was the starting fire of a massive explosion.
“No thanks.”
“HAHAHAHA! Do you think that you can refuse us? Think again! Well, you will change your mind soon enough when you reach the thirty floors of the dungeon. Try not to die until then!”
Sligo turned around and then jumped back to the island he came from… he easily jumped to the others and disappeared in the distance. That was a weird encounter, if anything… I scratched the back of my head.
‘I considered grinding here for years if I had to in order to obtain the power to escape this hellhole… by then, I would be able to protect myself with all that power, but perhaps monsters won’t be the only thing I will have to worry about here.’
I should keep some camouflage scrolls ready to be used just in case that guy shows up again and does something. They usually do that to put me in a bind, after all. Still, I wondered what I should do… the monsters didn’t show up until now, so it looked like they would wait for me to go diving… since they didn’t attack Sligo either. Maybe he was just too fast for them.
Regardless, I used the glasses to check any moments on the water after I approached it and then I heard the crunching sound of sand under my feet. It really looked like beach sand for whatever reason… was that a coincidence?
‘Dungeons and labyrinths take parts of the surrounding materials to make up their layout. Maybe the exit is close to a beach or something. Not one in the human territory, if I had to guess.’
Regardless, I noticed some movements underwater and then I sighed… I could try to use my bike in its semi-boat form, but I would be attacked from below. Without any other choice, I kept my Sroching Bow on my back and then dove into the water. I couldn’t see much from outside, but from inside, I could see that the water was like five meters deep and I could see the shape of the corridor as well.
Soon enough, I began to move toward the next island, but I had to stop in no time when I sensed something ahead moving toward me. I pointed both my hands at the creature, but I waited until I could use identification.
Name: Frogus
Race: Murkgulper
Health: 150/150
Regen: 3.0 per hour
Mana: 150/150
Regen: 3.0 per minute
Stamina: 150/150
Regen: 3.0 per minute
The creature was massive, with a body designed for stealth and ambush in murky, underwater depths. Its skin was a mix of dark greens and earthy browns, with patches of slimy moss clinging to its back, giving it a camouflage that helped it blend seamlessly into the muddy riverbeds or swamp floors.
Its wide, muscular mouth spans nearly the full width of its face, lined with rows of small, needle-like teeth. When closed, its mouth looks like an unassuming line, but when it opens, it reveals a cavernous maw capable of swallowing prey whole. Its eyes are bulbous, yellowed, and slightly luminous, allowing it to see in low-light environments.
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Extending from its back are spiny, fin-like ridges that help it navigate quickly in short bursts, propelling it toward prey in a sudden rush. Its forelimbs are webbed and muscular, each tipped with sharp, retractable claws for grasping slippery prey or anchoring itself to rocks and logs.
A peculiar detail about the creature was the bioluminescent spots along its sides and underbelly, which it pulsed faintly in patterns to attract smaller fish and insects closer.
The creature moved toward me with its jaw wide open… I could see a big tongue ready to be used, but the creature looked more eager to bite me instead. Regardless, I bombarded it with Magic Shurikens when it got too close and while its skin resisted a bit of the magic attack, it didn’t endure more than eight of those.
You received 20 experience points
The monster was half a human size, so I had a bit of a hard time grabbing its legs and then pulling it out of the water toward the other island. I figured out that the leather of the monster should be pretty elastic, so perhaps I could make something out of it.
After skinning the monster, I found a mana core and wondered if the thing was edible if cooked… it was ugly as fuck, though. I read somewhere before that Non-edible or toxic frogs are often smaller and less muscular in appearance.
Brightly colored frogs are generally a warning sign of toxicity. Frogs with vivid colors like bright red, yellow, blue, or orange are often toxic and should be avoided. Tropical regions, especially rainforests, are home to many toxic species, often with striking colors. Those are the things that I knew about them… all that was knowledge from Earth, though.
In any case, I decided to see if I could modify my bike a bit to make it float without using mana cores to move. I could get some bags of air and put them close to the wheels and then pedal myself until the next monster shows up, but then, I would need some more parts.
I decided to use mana cores to move for a while and cover as much ground as possible, but much to my surprise, one appeared three minutes away, and I barely covered five hundred meters.
‘I guess it is that kind of dungeon…’
In some situations, there are dungeons like this where a person can cover a lot of ground pretty fast… to avoid that. Instead of having them show up at some intervals, the dungeons would have some spawning spots as well. Sometimes they would spawn monsters at fixed intervals and sometimes they would make them show up whenever a person approaches.
In any case, the beast jumped from the water and came in a straight line toward my head with its massive mouth open. I destroyed it with magical shurikens.
The skill Magical Shurikens leveled up. You received 400 experience points.
I stopped to skin the monster and create the bags filled with air using the skin of the creatures… it was elastic enough, like a real balloon. Still, since I didn’t have the tools to stitch it properly, I had to use glue and a little of air would leave the bags.
In any case, at least it made me and my bike float… half of my legs were underwater while I was pedaling, though. It certainly could be improved.
‘I guess I need to make one of those… a hovercraft.’
I wondered if that was feasible… I would need a lot of frogs leather to pull that off. Still, since it was only to carry me and my automatic bike. Perhaps I could take the propelling part and install it in this prototype.
I tried to recall how it worked… it certainly would be useful in all kinds of terrain. A hovercraft is capable of traveling over various surfaces, including water, land, and even mud or ice, by riding on a cushion of pressurized air. This air cushion is created by a powerful lift fan that directs air beneath the hovercraft, where it’s partially trapped by a flexible skirt around its edges. The air pressure lifts the craft slightly above the ground, reducing friction and allowing it to glide over surfaces that would slow down or damage other types of vehicles.
Since the parts would be made of monster frogs, they would be pretty easy to enchant. In any case, I decided to write down the idea and slowly see what happens with the current situation… I would have to improve things anyway since my legs were getting coated. Perhaps a regular floating boat would be easier to make and a lot less of a pain to manage.
This was the cost of not having enough materials to make anything decent and not having all the classes necessary as well. Still, I believed that with some trial and error, I eventually would be able to make something decent. If things go wrong, I can always just stitch the mouths of the frogs when enough air is inside them, and then use them as support instead.
‘... Did I really think of this? What the hell is wrong with me?’
I wanted to blame the situation and the environment, but for a person to make real progress, they had to control their lives and accept that they are a good part of the problem when they are in situations like this. I tried to cut corners and get the mana drain effect as soon as possible… I got it, and now I was in an underwater labyrinth that worked as a prison, and I wasn’t even judged for my crimes. The sooner I accepted that I was the main cause to be there, the better.
Putting that aside, I began to move pretty fast in the new section. I solved the problem of the cold in my legs by turning the skin of the frogs to reinforce my boots. Using my scorching bow to tan the monster frog skins was actually pretty clever, even if I wasn’t totally sure it would work at first. I just held the skins out and used a few quick shots to blast them with heat, drying them out a lot faster than they would’ve if I’d just left them to air out. After wasting a bunch of good leather, I figured out that I could save some just by using Fireball.
After repeating this a few times, the skins started to get that tough, leathery feeling I was going for. Then, once I’d gone through a few rounds of heating and cooling, I washed the hides thoroughly to get rid of any leftover smell. After that final rinse, the stink was gone, leaving me with hides that were not only tanned quickly but surprisingly sturdy. I wasted a bunch of good skin in the process, but eventually, I pulled it off.