Monica stared at the entrance of the Dungeon.
It was an unassuming cave that shimmered faintly at the entrance.
“Dungeons are different planes of existence,” Ted had explained to her. “Once you enter, it’s a completely different place. The lower-level Dungeons resemble natural places more. The higher-level ones, instead, can take on the characteristics of more advanced things. They say that the Great Dungeons associated with the Nine Wonders are great because they incarnate the essence of their place.”
“Everyone, listen up,” Monica said. “We have swept the area. As far as we know, it should be free of Crystal Wolves. Now, I’ll enter the Dungeon alone at first. I want to check it out and make sure I can guarantee your survival.”
Monica also wanted to fight without having to worry about the others. Her power to come back to life was not that useful when many people were around. It meant she couldn’t be reckless, something that she would be otherwise allowed to be by virtue of the powers granted by her Title.
“You two,” Monica pointed at the goons. “Start chopping wood and roast these.”
She took out the fresh chunks of wolf meat and put them in their hands.
“I’ll be in at least a few hours. Do not follow me. I won’t tolerate stupidity.”
Everyone nodded quickly. They were still shaken by Ivor’s death.
“Now,” Monica continued, “Ted, you need to figure out your Skills before we enter. I want you to pull your weight. The rest of you, Tertius, Lucca, and Rochus, will support Dotty. That’s how you will approach a fight in case a Crystal Wolf appears. Can I get an ‘aye’ if you understand?”
“Aye,” the trio said.
“Great,” Monica turned to the Dungeon and gestured to Ted to get closer.
“What’s up?” Ted asked.
Monica showed him the Fireball and the Mana Sense books she had gotten from Ivor.
“Are these any good for me? I use flames. Should I learn them?”
Ted Inspected them.
Book of Fireball (Uncommon)
A Book that teaches you the Skill ‘Fireball.’
Remaining Uses: 2
Book of Mana Sense (Common)
A Book that teaches you the Skill ‘Mana Sense.’
Remaining Uses: 2
Ted scrunched his nose.
“Mana Sense can be used in battle as well. Classes like Spellsword use it like that. Fireball? I mean. There’s really no downside to learning a Skill. Fireball is pretty much the most common fire-type spell there is.”
Monica nodded and gave a mental nudge to the two books.
*Ding*
Would you like to use Book of Fireball?
YES|NO
*Ding*
Would you like to use Book of Mana Sense?
YES|NO
Fireball (Offensive Skill)
Harness your Mana to create and launch a sphere of magical flames at your target.
Usage: Focus your mana into a condensed sphere of fire in your palm and direct it toward your target.
Mana Sense (Utility Skill)
Develop the ability to perceive Mana in your surroundings.
Usage: Focus your mind on sensing the presence and movement of Mana around you.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Both descriptions and instructions for the two Skills were somewhat underwhelming. In fact, Monica wasn’t even sure what made it different from simply chucking a handful of Obsidian Flames at a monster.
I’m going to test them out in the Dungeon.
* * *
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Fireball reaches Level 2
Monica looked with a wide mouth at the cracked side of the Crystal Wolf she had met barely a few steps inside the Dungeon.
When she entered the Dungeon, she found broad stone steps. They were terraced and curled into a spiral. For some reason, she expected the cave to go downward because that's what caves usually did, or maybe just straight. Instead, it was sort of a sweeping staircase, the kind one could have found on a mountain, to make it easier to climb to the top.
Right before the corner, a Crystal Wolf had been laying down, resting. It didn't even notice Monica entering the Dungeon, and the redhead had decided to take the occasion to test at least one of her new Skills. So she had thought of Fireball, generated a rather small fist-sized ball of flames, and imagined the Fireball moving toward the wolf.
She had no idea what happened next. As soon as she had given the command to the Fireball to go, it had moved insanely fast and had impacted the side of the wolf with such strength that even before exploding, Monica had heard a loud crack from the crystals. Then the explosion had literally thrown the Crystal Wolf against the wall, breaking its spine and killing it on the spot.
"What the—" Monica stuttered and then decided to check out her Skills.
Ted had briefly mentioned at some point that she could see a summary of the Skills descriptions if she wanted, but she never really had the time to do that. And since she only had three Skills that she knew quite well, she had never felt the need to. And so she summoned the description of the various Skills.
Incredibly enough, the most underwhelming descriptions belonged to her two strongest Skills.
Skill List
Golden Flame, Lv. 17 - The Golden Flame of the Twin Phoenix
Obsidian Flame, Lv. 11 - The Obsidian Flame of the Twin Phonix
The other three Skills, instead, presented way more interesting information.
Skill List
Phoenix Feathers Lv. 7
The bonuses last while the Skill is active or until the rage-triggered secondary effect is activated.
#1 Base Effect: Increases your resilience, physical strength, and physical speed by 100%. The effect increases by 10% for each Level.
Current Bonus: 170%
#2 Base Effect: Increases all of your Attributes by 1. The effect increases by 1 for each Level.
Current Bonus: +7 to All Attributes
#1 Special Effect - Fury of the Phoenix: You gain +30 to All Attributes for each Phoenix Feather you burn. The effect increases by 3 for each Level. Your Vitality is reduced by 30 for each Phoenix Feather you burn. The effect increases by 3 for each Level. If your Vitality is negative after Fury of the Phoenix runs off, you will die. Resurrecting after dying because of or during Fury of the Phoenix will result in all your Attributes and Skill potency being cut by 80% for the next 24 hours.
Current Bonus: +51 to All Attributes for each burnt Phoenix Feather
Current Number of Available Feathers: 2
Fireball Lv. 3
Offensive spell based on fire.
*Ding*
A superior Flame has been detected.
*Ding*
Hidden Effect Uncovered!
*Ding*
Fireball’s description has been updated.
Fireball Lv. 3
Offensive spell based on fire.
#1 Hidden Effect - A Stronger Flame: Your Obsidian Flame increases the damage of Fireball by 400%. The damage increases by 10% for each Level.
Current Bonus: 510%
That meant that this Fireball was six times stronger than a normal Fireball, which explained why it had killed the Crystal Wolf with one hit.
Skill List
Mana Sense Lv. 1
Develop the ability to perceive Mana in your surroundings.
Mana Sense still didn’t show anything interesting, though.
So, Monica focused again on the Fireball, pondering what this meant for her combat style.
“I’m not about to become a caster,” Monica reasoned out loud.
Even if this was her strongest attack, her superior battle instincts were clearly about hand-to-hand combat, not chucking Fireballs from afar. In the long run, she was absolutely sure that focusing on hand-to-hand combat was the answer.
Still, this is a pretty nice bonus, she thought, summoning another Fireball. It consumes much more Mana than just coating my body with it, but it delivers much more damage.
Monica looked at her other hand and had an interesting idea.
I wonder if I can make my hands explode with the Obsidian Flames, as if it was a Fireball. Exploding hands… that sounds right up my alley.
She could also use the Fireball in case there were multiple Crystal Wolves around at once, which would allow to better control the battlefield.
A big drawback she could imagine was that she suspected that using Fireball instead of the Obsidian Flame directly would mean leveling up Fireball and not the underlying Skill—well, not as much, at least.
That, to Monica, was a dealbreaker, a bigger one than the fact she wasn’t a caster.
After those considerations, she decided to try out the other Skill she had gotten, Mana Sense.
She followed the terraced steps, which led her to a long corridor with blue gems acting as torches on each side of the wall, shining and illuminating the way.
She saw another solitary Crystal Wolf and activated the Skill.
Nothing great happened. Suddenly, she could see a suffused light coming from the monster and a weaker one from the gems in the walls.
“Pretty lame,” Monica sighed. However, she realized that her vision had gotten ever so sharper, allowing her to zoom in on the monster. Additionally, it appeared that her field of vision had somewhat enlarged.
Is this another hidden effect?
She kept Mana Sense on since it didn’t consume much in terms of Mana and prepared to approach the next monster.
Time for a few experiments, she thought, with a shiver of excitement running through her body.
Skills clearly had mysteries, and she felt giddy at the thought of experimenting, leveling them up, and beating the living crystal out of these monsters.