Along with the message, a beam of light shot from the ceiling. It lasted only briefly, and upon dissipating into small dust-like particles, a metallic chest appeared.
Opening it, another light beam flashed, accompanying a system notification.
[You gained <50 DCs>]
[You gained <50 DCs>]
”Alright, we each got fifty coins.” Ruelle exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. Considering that it was only the Tutorial Dungeon, the chest gave plenty more than usual. “We can go back and buy two haste potions with our combined coins, then the rest can go into a mana potion for you.”
“I don’t think a haste potion for me is necessary,” Silas shook his head. They decided to walk while they talked. “What was the last item on the Basic Section?”
“Ropes,” she replied, glancing behind her to look at the corpses of spiders. “They’re sold for 5 DCs per coil…by the way, are we not going to loot them?”
Silas halted his steps, and so did Ruelle. Without saying another word, he returned to the room, silently staring at the bodies before him. “What would even be useful for the boss fight?”
“We can save their venom for later…although we don’t exactly have anything to put them in,” Leaning her elbow on her palm, Ruelle balanced her chin on her hand while lost in thought.
Silas nodded. It was a shame that they would need to leave all these materials behind when they got out of the dungeon. ”Tutorial Dungeon mobs don’t drop mana cores either…The only one we could get is from the Elite Monster.”
“…”
The silence didn’t last very long. A sharp click from Ruelle’s finger snap garnered Silas’ attention. “I have an idea,” she walked over to one of the torches mounted on the walls. Her actions prompted a look of confusion from Silas, though there was a hint of intrigued in his eyes. Ruelle returned soon after. “Look, I can put it in my inventory.” as she spoke, the torch disappeared from her hand, only to manifest again a second later.
They’d already established that some items that were once impossible to pick up could now be stored inside the inventory, so Rez didn’t quite follow what she was trying to convey. With one raised eyebrow, he asked. “So…what about it?”
“…Has anyone ever told you that you’re very slow?” Crowfest didn’t look as annoyed as she sounded. Her obvious insult to his intellect earned her a look of contempt from RetiZn. “Spiders…bugs—ahem, arachnids, FIRE???” She waved the torch in his face.
”Okay okay! I get it!” Rez took a step back from the heat, his nose stinging from the smoke. “We can use the ropes as fuel to burn the boss. I get it now, happy?”
Ruelle gave him a bright smile, putting the torch back into her inventory. “Yep, happy! Now let's finish our preparations.”
.
.
.
An imposing stone gate stood before them. Upon its worn-down surface, patterns etched deep into the rocks, and carvings were made in the appearance of twisting vines. Two pillars accompanied the gate, holding mesmerizing blue flames atop. Even without a big billboard or system messages, they knew that this was the
”Normally there would be a [Press ‘I’ to Interact] message when we get this close and personal,” Ruelle joked. Her crossed arms added another layer of confidence to the smug grin on her face. “Oh, your keymapping might be different though, Rez.”
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“Of course not, you think I play the game with an inverted setting?” Silas responded with a raised eyebrow.
The corner of her mouth twitched upwards. She gave him a shrug. ”Aren’t you left-handed? I thought you might walk with JKIL rather than ASWD.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re hilarious.” Amidst the woman’s uncontrollable chuckle, he placed one hand on the stone gate.
[Players Ready: 1 / 2]
Ruelle wiped a stray tear from her eye before following his lead.
[Players Ready: 2 / 2]
A gentle ‘click’ sounded from the gate. The large stone doors moved inward, dragging violently across the ground. The amount of dust they kicked up managed to completely block their view.
Before they could see what was inside, a foul, rotten smell permeated to their nostrils. Just when they thought they’d gotten used to the scent of the spiders’ venom, the musty odor in this room made their eyes water.
But since they’d already entered the Elite Monster’s room, there was no going back outside. The creaking of the stone gates could be heard behind them, and soon after, their entrance was slammed shut.
[Sy▇▇ Er▇▇r Dete▇▇]
[WARNING.]
“Huh?” Silas frowned as a red screen appeared in front of him. Glancing to his side, he confirmed that Ruelle also received the same message. She looked as baffled as he was.
[Due to your low level, the chance of winning is significantly low.]
[The System recommends you to retreat. Would you still like to pr—]
[ERROR.]
“This is…” Crowfest’s eyes went wide. As beads of sweat rolled down the side of her face, she hurriedly summoned her daggers. Her attention remained fixated to the front as the dust began to settle. “Rez, take out your staff now!”
He did as he was told, although he still had no clue what was going on. “Judging from the amount of red I’m seeing…I doubt this is supposed to happen.”
”Of course not!” She shouted through her gritted teeth. “The low-level warning was supposed to appear before we enter the room!”
A sudden booming screech cut through the air, blowing away the rest of the dust. It revealed the presence of a monster three times larger than the spiders they’d faced before. With a body covered thoroughly in obsidian-like armor, its two front legs looked like greatswords that could easily pierce through steel. The eight red gems gleaming on its face fixated on them like a predator staring down its prey.
But those sharp eyes were not this creature’s most imposing feature.
Upon taking notice of its two challengers, the monster let out another terrific shriek before unfurling its giant glass-like wings.
[The Boss Monster
“Boss, boss monster?” Silas’ grip on his staff shook. A heavy pressure pressed down on his shoulders. The longer he stood staring into those piercing eyes, the more he felt that it was getting harder to breathe.
[
[‘Silas Salvador’ has been inflicted with
“Rez! Snap out of it!” A new type of force brought him out of his trance. RetiZn felt his back crash against the hard stone ground, and instinctively his eyes snapped onto Crowfest’s frowning face. “Do you want to die? What are you standing around for? Get up and help me fight this thing!”
As she hopped off of him, Rez noticed that a deep trench had appeared where he had stood moments before, the surrounding stone now liquefied into a viscous ooze. Neon-green traces scattered around the hole caught his attention, and he recognized it to be the black-armored spiders’ corrosive venom. ”When did it fire an attack…?”
While he stood around still perplexed about the sudden turn of events, Ruelle had already rushed forward. It may appear like a reckless choice, but she did not go in without a plan in mind.
The spider shot another jet of venom from its fangs-filled mouth, aiming right at her with pin-point precision. Crow swiftly rolled to the side, letting the deadly attack whisk past her, and continued forward. When she got close enough, she drove her daggers towards one of its smaller legs.
”My stat points, put everything into strength!”
[Stat Points distributed.]
The tip of the blades shattered the monster’s black armor with a sharp ‘crack’. They pushed past the broken defenses, managing to impale into the flesh beneath. Cries of pain erupted from the spider as Crowfest made a strategic retreat. While it may appear that she’d struck a good blow, the shallow wounds revealed otherwise. “I couldn’t go any deeper!”
‘SNAP!’
Another terrific shriek shook the entire cave. A sudden swift attack had severed the injured half of the leg completely from the joint. Green blood gushed from the wound, the pain of losing a limb managed to stagger the giant spider.
[Stat points distributed.]
[Stat Points remaining: 2]
“Sorry about that,” RetiZn spoke with a wide grin. The gemstone of the Sapphire Staff gave off a beautiful shimmer, its light filled with power. “I’m ready now, Crow. Let’s hunt this spider down.”