First Dungeon Date with Johnny, it was time to show off all that she had learned so far. For her goals, this was akin to an audition / job interview / reality show performance, all in one.
“How are we gonna do it?” Asked Ilaria, after having taken out her staff.
The 'go to date dungeon' pink button had already made its appearance, but she wasn't going to press it anytime soon. Ilaria did expect to have a strategy discussion before starting, like she had always with Kyle. So she was really surprised with Johnny's next words.
“Don't worry, just do as you do; I'll try to cover you.” said Johnny, more concerned about other things in his viewpoint, not even looking at her.
This guy is insufferable, what did Minerva see in him in the first place?
Ilaria–who had restrained herself from replying–pressed the button, prepared to wait. They teleported instantly.
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First wave: Twenty-six nightmaned direwolves
Ilaria got startled as she heard the announcement. Twenty-six? There aren't even that many doors. She wondered what was the max, maybe forty. Johnny looked unworried though, standing still in the middle of the ballroom. She glanced at him sideways, expecting to hear something from her partner, up until the doors opened.
Alright, if it's going to be like this, I'll do my thing.
Ilaria quickly scanned the room, looking for the zone with the least number of opponents. There were twenty doors, six of them having two direwolves, which were mostly in front of their current position.
“I'm taking the ones on the back.” Ilaria had affirmed, not questioned. She turned her back to Johnny and started spamming fireballs. She didn't know what the warrior would be doing, but he was level 50, he could suit himself.
The taller-than-her wolf-like creatures noticed the source of the fireballs immediately, running towards the center. Ilaria knew it would happen, now her worry was to kill enough of them to get a clear side towards which to back up. Two down, four to go.
The mage managed to kill a third direwolf before they reduced the distance to a half. I'm not gonna make it. Ilaria was already committed to her plan–she kept shooting even though it guaranteed that she would be the one targeted–she had dealt way too much damage for the tank's Taunt to make a difference in the direwolves' attack priorities.
A fourth direwolf was felled before they were at jumping distance. She could hear movement behind her–the tank had probably engaged the ones coming from other directions. As the pair of aggravated direwolves jumped, Ilaria favored her right, shooting twice in quick succession. She twisted in her place, bracing for the bite that was surely coming.
“Run!”
Ilaria got startled by the male voice–Johnny hadn't said anything since the Dungeon Date started–before being pushed aside. She barely kept balance, breaking into a run before knowing what was happening. It helped that clearing a running lane had been her goal all along.
Johnny had followed her, knocking aside the direwolves as they went through the room. Ilaria turned around a few steps before the doors, watching the warrior intercepting and pushing aside the attackers just using brute force. His tanking was completely opposite to the efficiency of Kyle's; it did help that he had over twenty levels over their current foes.
Ilaria let Johnny finish the direwolves on his own. Even though the warrior didn't require any healing, the mage still needed to conserve mana for the next rounds. Besides, she was uneasy aiming from behind him. She didn't know his movement patterns at all, making it difficult to have a clean shot.
Second wave: Twenty-two skinshredder hawks
“Should we return to the center?” asked Ilaria, as the announcement played.
“No need, stay behind me and choose one side,” answered Johnny, aiming upwards.
It wasn't time to ask for an explanation, so Ilaria did as she was told and aimed to the right. She would need to trust Johnny for the one who would come from the door just behind her.
That hawk didn't even get to squeak, before being propelled towards the back, splashing the soot-stained wall like a blood-red paint balloon. Ilaria's surprise made her lose half of a second–she had looked upwards despite herself–but she still fireballed the rightmost hawk out of the air.
Johnny had already turned around facing their left–his right hand extended in the air–recalling his spear. The now-closest hawk stretched its claws, diving like a brown feathery lance. Ilaria could barely see it from over the warrior's tower shield; there was no opening for her to make a shot.
“Got it,” said Johnny, casually bashing the hawk from the air with a twist of his tower shield. The maneuver had looked impossible at a glance.
I guess that's the strength of a level 50 character.
Ilaria didn't shoot again for the rest of the wave. Johnny stood in front of her, twisting and turning his shield over his head like it were a paper fan. That not only prevented the hawks from slashing with their claws, but each impact threw them back, doing massive amounts of damage.
Third wave: Eighteen ethereal nightmares
Her partner had killed all the hawks with time to spare before the next wave started to appear. Ilaria didn't know what to do, feeling bored and useless. Nightmares were the most problematic when she dated Kyle–having enough hit points to not fall to even two fireballs–so she just took cover behind the warrior and waited.
Johnny stepped ahead, putting himself just in front of the closest door, the one that had received a new coating of red. The horse-like monster materialized as Ilaria remembered, skin shimmering black, turning into foggy gas as her gaze fell through their legs.
The nightmare didn't even have the space to charge, it just raised its almost invisible hooves at Johnny. The warrior then proceeded to thrust his spear right in the middle of the horse's chest. The nightmare twisted on its hind legs, but Johnny stood firmly in his place, up until his foe stopped moving. He dislodged his spear like it didn't take any effort–probably it didn't, level 50 strength seemed superhuman–silently moving in front of Ilaria, facing the rest of the room.
The remaining nightmares started charging at them in pairs, their usual pattern as far as Ilaria knew. Johnny blocked each easily and without any finesse. He did a half step towards the leftmost one, Shield bashing it and throwing it back, before turning around and hitting the second one on the side of its head. The shield did some damage, slowly chipping at the nightmares two at a time. At some point, Johnny started using his spear to finish the most damaged nightmares, one after another.
Fourth wave: Fifteen heartbroken otterflies
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Since the otterflies were airborne, Ilaria had decided to use her mana in that round. Who knows if I'll be able to even touch what comes after; better to do at least something.
The mage raised her glance towards their door; Johnny looked at her and didn't say anything. I guess I shall do as I do, huh?
The otterfly that she had been waiting materialized, it's blue wings reflecting the cold candelabra light. Ilaria shoot it twice in succession, downing it before even looking to the rest of the room.
The nearby otterflies squeaked and flew to them; the ones further away ones did too, but the closest seemed more desperate. Or maybe it was just Ilaria's impression. Otterflies didn't dive–they attacked with teeth and claws–which made them slower to engage. Ilaria took advantage of that, killing both the leftmost and rightmost before Johnny could block her out with his shield.
The dozen otterflies remaining were already at striking distance, trying to get to them. Johnny spun around her, fending them off with his shield. Ilaria did try to aim, but her opportunity windows were short lived.
After a handful of frustrating seconds, the mage finally could figure out a semblance of a pattern in Johnny's movements. She wasn't sure if it was Johnny's, or just the otterflies forcing him to that, but it was all the same for her. Just after a Shield bash, Johnny would turn around, leaving the hit otterfly stunned for less than a second. If she aimed before the bashing occurred, she would have a clean line of fire.
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Fifth wave: Twelve shadowlurker Nagas
“Fireball.” Ilaria finished the last otterfly as she heard the next announcement. She was kinda proud of her accomplishment; it would be fair to assume they wouldn't have finished them on time without her contributions.
The mage looked sideways–Johnny didn't even glance at her–the warrior setting himself in the vanguard position, ready for the next foe to cross their door.
From what Ilaria had investigated from the level 20 date dungeon, the nagas were mostly melee attackers. They could throw their tridents for a one-shot ranged attack, but they did it only after they had below a quarter hit points remaining. Anyway, they couldn't fly, so her chances to get some shots would be slim after the tank set himself.
“I'll take the one on the right,” said Ilaria, not waiting for a reply.
The nagas started to materialize all around the room. They were around two meters tall, legless, humanoid lizards; slithering on their fat, scaled tail. Their green-purplish scales shimmered in a disturbing way, like if they were covered by an oily sludge, reflecting light and shadows in a deliberate fashion.
Ilaria shot her target as soon as she judged it tangible enough to receive damage. She had been using fireballs exclusively and, even though she hadn't spent any in healing, her mana was running low. Regardless, she still hit the naga twice more–it being higher level than her–any other attack wouldn't suffice. Her prey fell with the third Fireball, Ilaria turning around to see Johnny finishing his first target. The leftmost naga was almost on them already, the mage taking cover behind as the warrior engaged it.
Comparing him to Kyle, Ilaria found Johnny lacking. Where Kyle would move the least possible, evading within centimeters of the blade; her current partner used big movements, trampling through his opposition instead. She wondered if Johnny was always like this, or it was just that he didn't care about the current DD, his foes way underleveled for him.
As with the waves before, it didn't seem like Ilaria had any chances to attack–not that she had many fireballs left anyway. The nagas being landbound, her line of fire was almost always blocked by the warrior and his tower shield. Not having anything better to do, she observed the tank and waited for a chance.
Johnny kept spinning in a half-circle, the door–and Ilaria–at his back. He blocked with both shield and spear, the former being the most damaging one. So much that she wondered if the warrior would be better served wielding two shields instead of the spear.
When Ilaria thought she might have figured the pattern, everything changed. After chipping at their hit points for a while, Johnny seemed to switch towards the offensive. When the next naga thrust with its trident, he didn't block it, but made a half-step forward. The naga's weapon missed him over his right shoulder, his didn't. Johnny pierced the naga's scaled chest, dark green blood oozing from the wound. As he turned around to block a different attack–dislodging his spear in the process–the naga fell to the floor, dematerializing on its way.
After the change of pattern, Ilaria wasn't completely covered in the back anymore. It didn't matter, the nagas had received enough damage from Johnny to ignore the mage without any effort on her part.
Sixth wave: Ten spiteful Salamanders
From what Ilaria could recall, the salamanders were semi-melee attackers, their firebreath having a range of about 2 meters. In practical terms, it meant that, what had been half way through in other waves, was already in the line of fire for them.
Johnny still engaged with the four remaining nagas, Ilaria quickly decided to run towards the center. There was no way she could finish the salamander that would appear behind her, already in firebreath range from minute one.
“Don't shoot,” said Johnny, as Ilaria passed by his side. I guess I shouldn't, but then what am I to do?
Johnny finished two nagas in quick succession, before having to engage with a salamander too. The first firebreath had surprised him, only being blocked halfway. The warrior's HP bar decreased in a noticeable amount for the first time. After the fire subsided, he spun, intercepting a naga in the last second. He killed it, receiving a slash to his shoulder in return.
Ilaria could see how the salamander raised its head, preparing for another attack. She was going to shout, before noticing Johnny turning around to meet the fire with his shield. At this point every other salamander was close to attack range towards her.
I wonder how it feels being cooked alive in one go.
Suddenly, Ilaria noticed movement from the corner of her eye. The last naga hadn't approached Johnny, it was preparing to throw. She quickly took a decision. I'm a goner anyway. Disregarding Johnny's instructions, she pointed her staff and fireballed the naga.
The naga fell in a heap of fire, the room warming up in a blast of light and embers as it happened. No, the room wasn't the one lighting up. It was her.
If one had to choose how to die inside a VR game, being burned to death wasn't the worst by far. It even felt pleasurable at first–like being inside a scalding water bath–before turning into the dull, uncomfortable ache of sunburned skin.
And then she was just there, like inside a transparent sphere, from which she could move her viewpoint 360º towards the room. It felt weird. The times she had died before in a DD, she had been teleported instantly outside the room. It was the first time she had been killed before her partner.
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Seventh wave: Eight stillhearted Gargoyles
Johnny had finished the first salamander without any issue, not being faced at all by his partner's demise. And without anyone to protect, he went on the offensive. The warrior killed three salamanders one after the other–not minding being singed a bit in the process–before the gargoyles made their appearance.
The gargoyles were imp-like, gray stone monsters; their face set in a eerie grin, their bodies crisscrossed by purplish crack lines from their head to the tips of their wings. Johnny didn't pay them much attention, going around killing salamanders.
The winged monsters dived like the hawks, clawing at the warrior's heavy plate. Ilaria was sure that the armor had been rendered useless by now, not falling in chunks just because it was a DD. Johnny didn't seem to feel the injures at all, killing the salamanders in turn. The mage knew it to be a lie, the warrior's HP bar being decreased as each new red line was drawn by the claws on his back.
Johnny had a grin of satisfaction as the last salamander dissipated. He didn't even try to block the next attack, two gargoyles clawing him in a pincer attack. He smiled towards nowhere and fell.
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The pair reappeared in front of Johnny's house, under the darkening sky of Torinelo city. Being in the residential area, Ilaria couldn't see anyone on the street at all, like if the two of them were still in a private instance together.
To say that Ilaria hadn't liked the Dungeon Date would be an understatement. She hated it. Having a level 23 and level 50 player do a dungeon together was pointless in the first place. Not that two max level characters would find it much better–as far as she could tell–the scaled number of enemies being a crude attempt to make it at least somewhat engaging.
“Did you level?” asked Johnny, reappearing in his plate armor as if nothing had happened.
“Ah, I don't think so.” Ilaria was surprised at the question; Johnny had barely talked to her while in the DD. She had just gotten to 23 in her last date with Kyle, so leveling was out of the question. She still opened her stat window on her viewpoint, noticing a big increase in her progress bar. It left her wondering how was the experience calculated.
“You surprised me,” said Johnny, showing her a non-smug smile. Or it was maybe her imagination.
“You are good, for not having a One-eyed Wand,” added Johnny, deflating Ilaria's mood instantly.
You aren't too bad either, as long as you have at least ten levels over your target.
“I have been there; no luck yet.” The mage restrained herself from saying more.
“I'm leaving now, I guess I'll see you on Friday,” said Johnny, winking at her.
“See you.” Ilaria resisted until the last trace of him dissipated before scowling.