The cave was filled with ice. The walls were covered in a thick light blue ice, and icicles hung from the ceiling. The ground was treacherous and chaotic. Slippery ice threatened to throw Alaster and his undead to the ground.
After the first Black Guard had slipped on the ice, he had stopped to add little spikes to the bottom of their feet. He also did the same by creating a small attachment that he could slip over the top of his boots.
It was a quick change, and they were on their way once more after only a few minutes. The cave was dark, but at the tip of the icicles, something was lightly glowing. The light was faint, but there was enough of it to allow Alaster to traverse the uneven ground of the cave.
The light cast shadows throughout the cave. Casting weird shapes on the walls. Several times he found himself raising his sword at one of the shadows. The Blackguards followed his example, raising their shields and lowering their polearms, but the [Horde] Skeletons never reacted.
As Alaster ventured deeper into the cave, his breath became more and more visible, as well as heavier, quickly falling from his mouth. Even with the numerous layers of furs he had covering his body, Alaster still began to shiver. A Bugbear fur with three more layers of the Snow Ape furs, and he was still shivering. Alaster doubted he would see any more of the Snow Apes. He doubted they could survive even this level of cold.
The Undead didn't seem to mind the cold, let alone be affected by it.
‘Interesting, maybe I should learn some Ice Magic.’
Ice Magic, similar to most magics, had secondary effects. Fire Magic would heat up the surrounding area and, depending on the spell used, would explode. Meanwhile, Ice Magic would chill the surrounding area. If used often enough and with enough high level spells, it could chill the area enough to affect living creatures, but it wouldn’t affect the Undead.
However, he couldn’t help but be hesitant to use Ice Magic, even if he had the opportunity to learn it. He despised the cold. The only reason he wasn’t rushing through the Dungeon was because it was slightly warmer in the Dungeon than in the real world. There wasn’t nearly as much wind. Now, within the cave, it was much colder. Something that irritated Alaster to no end.
And it was only getting worse. As the cave twisted and turned, it grew colder and colder. As reluctant as he was, Alaster sheathed his sword and hung the shield over his back. It was growing so cold that he was quickly losing feeling in his hands. As he traversed the uneven stone of the cave, Alaster tucked his hands under the layers. Alaster grit his teeth, a deep sigh momentarily clouding his vision, freezing as it fell. He could help his hands, but he couldn’t do anything about his feet.
Two of the Black Guards turned a corner and stopped, turning to look at Alaster. Instantly cautious, Alaster peeked around the corner, the Black Guards raising their shield. But no attack came, nor was there any potential threat. The cave tunnel continued for nearly a dozen meters before it took a sharp turn. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least ordinary for the rest of the cave. However, there was light. Light that would have come from the sun of the Dungeon.
Alaster quickly made his way over. He ordered the two forward Black Guards to hold back, so he could be the first one to see around the corner. The Night Children, marching at the front of the [Horde] Skeletons behind Alaster and the rear Black Guards, grew more and more agitated as they came closer.
The young man peaked around the corner, his hand close to the pommel of his sword. Around the corner, the cave tunnel continued for another five or six meters before it ended abruptly. Out of the cave, Alaster couldn’t see much. A thick white mist obscured everything. Alaster ordered all four Black Guard forward before he cautiously followed.
As he drew closer, Alaster saw that the mist didn’t enter the cave tunnel, almost like it had hit an invisible wall.
‘Greaaaat. Cause unnatural mist is never a bad sign.’ Alaster thought sarcastically.
He ordered all of his Undead in front, with the [Horde] Skeletons right in front of the mist, the Night Children behind them, followed by two of the Black Guards. Alaster watched closely and ordered one of the Ape Skeletons forward. The Ape moved forward, swinging forward on its large arms. Alaster expected that something would happen when the Ape entered, yet nothing did.
However, after only a few feet, the mist obscured the Ape. Alaster was only able to see a slight shadow as the Ape went deeper into the mist. Yet nothing happened to the Ape itself. Nothing attacked it. He still felt his connection to it. So Alaster sent the second Ape Skeleton into the mist. Once more, nothing happened. Alaster sent in the rest of the Apes, then the Night Children.
The Night Children seemed hesitant to enter, but at the same time, didn’t hesitate to obey. Alaster wondered why they were so hesitant. It couldn’t be because they had a mind. The Black Guards had minds with five hundred mana, just like the Night Children, but they didn’t seem to notice anything. However, unlike the Black Guards, the Night Children’s mana veins were strengthened.
Of course, Alaster had strengthened the Black Guard’s veins to make them stronger and more durable. But for the Night Children, Alaster had focused more on the veins leading to the head. He had done so in hopes that it would make the head more durable. After all, the head was the most vulnerable of the majority of living things. Perhaps, in addition to making the head more durable, he also improved the senses of the Night Child.
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Regardless, Alaster pushed it aside. He was about to fight the boss. Even if he was nearly an Adept, and over leveled for this F+ Dungeon, he was alone. It would only take one single mistake for this all to end. He couldn’t allow that to happen.
Surrounded by his Black Guards, Alaster walked into the mist. And as the mist consumed him, Alaster felt himself slipping. Every thought left his mind. Every thought except cold calculated murder. Nothing remained.
The mist blocked his vision. He could see nothing but dark blurry shapes where his Undead were. Alaster ordered one of the Night Children to stay close to him. He intended to use it as an early warning system, as it seemed able to sense the surrounding threats.
While he couldn’t see very far through the mist, Alaster knew that the tunnel had widened into a cavern of sorts. It also seemed to Alaster that there was no ceiling, allowing the Dungeon Sun to light the mist. The mist itself could be emanating the light, but he doubted it.
Alaster intended to stay near the entrance in case he needed to retreat. The narrow tunnel of the cave would make it much easier to defend against a threat. However, once he entered the mist, he found that he couldn’t leave through the tunnel. It seemed that whatever force was preventing the mist from entering the tunnel, was also preventing Alaster from leaving. Alaster made a note to himself that the next time a situation such as this arose, that he would ensure that he could leave before he entered.
However, before Alaster could think of something else, he felt a change in the mist. It had grown thicker. Something was happening. Alaster quickly ordered his Undead closer. The immediately obeyed. But it came too late.
As one of the Ape Skeletons turned around to return to Alaster, it was attacked. Alaster heard the impacts against bone. Through his connection to the Skeletal Ape, Alaster rushed to its location, the rest of his Undead converging on it as well. The Ape wasn’t far. It didn’t take long for him to reach it. The Ape was throwing punch after punch into what seemed like a ghost. Its bony fists passing harmlessly through it.
The ghost seemed to be made of the mist. The only indication of its shape was a concentration of the mist. It took the shape of an upright Ape, similar to the Snow Apes of the rest of the Dungeon, but over three meters tall. As Alaster watched, the ghost raised its ‘fists’ over its head. Similar to how he had seen the other Apes do. At its peak, the mist condensed even more, taking solid shape, before slamming down onto the skull of the Skeletal Ape. The ghost’s fists were just like a larger version of the Snow Apes, but heavily scared, revealing black skin.
‘There goes that mist-ery’ Alaster groaned at his own pun, even as the Skeletal Ape’s skull shattered, and its bones cluttered to the ground.
He now knew the opponent he was facing, as well as its ability, and its weakness. The only remaining question was how to take advantage of it.
Once the Skeletal Ape ‘died’, the ‘ghost’ turned to Alaster. He had missed it before, when it had been facing the Ape, but the eyes of the ‘ghost’ slightly glowed a light blue. After only a moment’s pause, the ‘ghost’ quickly moved towards Alaster. It was very quick, only allowing Alaster enough time to draw his sword before it crossed the four meters between them. As it moved, it became difficult for Alaster to track its form through the mist.
Using its momentum, it solidified one of its fists, already cocked to punch. Alaster jumped to the side as one of his Black Guards jumped in front of him, its shield raised and body braced. Its white fist slammed into the bone shield, severely cracking it and throwing the Black Guard away. As one, Alaster and the Night Child attacked the solid fist. The Night Child’s blades struggled to cut through the thick fur and draw blood. Alaster’s blade attacked the other side of the wrist, which had much less fur. His blade cut deeply into the flesh, potentially nicking the vein.
The ‘ghost’ made no sound, but the constantly swirling mist consisting of its shape grew violent, and the mist in the area grew thicker. The fist seemed to struggle to return to mist as blood fell. Quicker than Alaster could react, the ghost’s other fist solidified and came flying at Alaster. It slammed into Alaster and sent him flying. But it did not get that blow for free.
Even as Alaster was midair, stunned from the blow and pain, his second mind cast [Necrotic Bolt]. The bolt dug into the fist, and quickly began to melt the flesh. Alaster slammed into the ground and rolled nearly four meters away. His breath ragged and pained.
[Health: 242/405
Health Regeneration: 10/min]
Alaster stumbled to his feet, holding his side as he spat out blood. He glared at the ‘ghost’ as the rest of his Undead arrived, surrounding it. It had struggled to turn its first fist into mist after it was injured, and after its second fist was injured, it completely failed to turn to mist, the rest of its body becoming solid and coming into view.
Just as Alaster had expected, it was just a very large Snow Ape. Its bare chest was riddled with more scars than not. Even as one of its fists bled severely, and the other had a hole the size of two fists down to the bone, it glared defiantly at Alaster. Two large and sharp tusks extended from its bottom teeth, and Alaster knew that they saw plenty of use in battle.
It was enraged, both from pain, and due to becoming unveiled. It launched itself at Alaster, wildly swinging its fists at his Undead. Two casts sent four [Necrotic Bolts] into the chest of the Boss, even as it batted away two Skeletal Apes with one fist, and crushed another Ape into the ground with another.
Alaster dived to the side, letting out a silent cry of pain as he fell on his injured side. Unable to stop its own momentum, the boss ran into the prepared and braced polearms of all four Black Guards. Each sharp point digging deeply into the four impacts of the [Necrotic Bolts]. Both Bone Spears snapped off in the body. The force of the massive body slamming into them forced the Black Guards back, even as the butts of their spears and bills dug deep grooves into the frozen and compact dirt.
Alaster rolled to his feet and lowered his sword, ready for another attack. But none came.
The Boss, profusely bleeding and quickly growing weaker, grabbed a Black Guard and raised it to its mouth. But before it could bite down, it grew too weak, and the Black Guard fell out of its grasp. All four of the Black Guards quickly moved away as the Boss collapsed to the ground, dead.
[Level Up]