Chapter 90 – 3rd Dungeon

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'197…. 198…. 199…. 200.'

Daichi stood up and let out a deep breath as he finished his daily 200 push-ups. His daily workout was completed and now Daichi was ready for the day. He opened the ongoing quests and looked at the conditions of his third year quest.

[Complete 200 Push ups (Daily)]

[Complete 200 Squats (Daily)]

[Complete 200 Punches(Daily)]

[Run 20 Kilometers (Daily)]

[Complete at least 1 Dungeon before the end of this academic year.]

[Take the top spot in your class.]

[Learn advanced chakra control techniques.]

'I'll be able to complete the daily quests no problem. I've learned two advanced chakra control exercises and by the time this year ends I plan on learning two more. And I'll be able to take the top spot this year as well… So the only thing remaining is the dungeon.'

He decided that it was time for the third dungeon run.

Several months had passed and Daichi was steadily increasing his strength. The October semester exams at the academy ended yesterday and now Daichi had a two week break. He also recently completed the second step of the Earth change in chakra nature control training.

'Along with completing the first two steps of nature transformation I learned plenty of Earth style Ninjutsu as well. Now I just need experience using them in battle. The next dungeon should be a decent start with that. And I think I know which dungeon I should go to this time.'

Daichi gets random rewards for completing the daily quests. Most of the time it's common ordinary items but sometimes he would get jutsu scroll or something of similar value as rewards. But these types of rewards were rare. Several months ago Daichi got an instant dungeon key as a reward. The dungeon key to the 'Zeroth Ground'.

Daichi recalled the limited information he knew about the training ground. 'It was designed as a training ground when it was built but now it's a wildlife preserve. I wonder how it's dungeon version will look. Whatever the case, I'll be ready.'

Daichi checked his status page. His level was the same as before but he was able to increase points in several stats with just training. He then opened the skill list and went through them. His eyes landed on the Earth - Waterfall Cutting technique.

[Earth - Waterfall Cutting technique - (Active/Passive)(LV. MAX):An earth chakra affinity training skill obtained through continuously focusing the chakra to cut off the flow of water. An advanced technique to help the user increase the control and strength of their earth nature chakra.]

[Note: Increasing the level of this skill will increase the level of the skill 'Earth Affinity.']

[Effects:]

[200% Increase in Earth Chakra control.]

[300% Increase in power of Earth Chakra nature.]

[CP cost : 18/sec.]

'The strength of my Earth style jutsu have gotten a lot stronger. It took me almost 5 months of non-stop training but it was totally worth it. And my earth affinity has improved as well. So that's a bonus.'

[Earth Affinity - (Active/Passive)(LV. 76): Earth Release is one of the five basic nature transformations. It is commonly affiliated with Tiger hand-seal. At higher levels the user can control the several minerals saturating the earth. Once this skill crosses Level 90, the user can combine it with other nature affinities which have also crossed Level 90. Primary affinity of the 'Player'.]

[Effects:]

[182% Power Increase in earth attack jutsu.]

[182% Power Increase in earth defense jutsu.]

[72.5% Increase in success when creating earth style jutsu.]

[60% Decrease in Chakra cost when using earth style jutsu.]

'Excellent. It is so gratifying to see my progress like this.'

Daichi headed back home from the training ground. He quickly reached the house and went to his room. He took the necessary supplies and got ready for the third dungeon run.

'The old man went to see Shi and won't be back for an hour or two. Now's the perfect time.'

Daichi took out the key and activated it. He was teleported and landed in a hallway that was similar to the hallway he saw in the first dungeon, but it had some key differences. It had wines and roots growing all over the place, but it also had carvings of exotic animals on the walls.

Daichi looked at the carvings with fascination and walked forward. Within a minute he reached the end and inserted the key into the door.

[You have reached the entrance to the dungeon - Zeroth Ground.]

[Would you like to enter? [Y/N]

"Yes. Yes! Let's get on with it."

The door opened and Daichi stepped inside.

[The title 'Dungeon Warrior' is now active. All your stats are increased by 15% while inside the dungeon.]

His titles activated and his stats increased. Daichi smiled as he felt the power flowing through his body. The first thing he saw was a vast expanse with little plants.

'Observe'.

[Dungeon - Zeroth Ground]

[This dungeon and its beasts are based on the wildlife sanctuary previously known as Zeroth Training ground. This dungeon is much larger and comprises different terrains that are home to various species of animals. The beasts inside the dungeon are unique and are a stronger and more evolved and powerful version of their strongest counterparts.]

At that moment, as Daichi expected, a quest appeared.

[Quest Created - 'Kill the 68 unique beasts inside the dungeon'.]

Time limit : None.

Rewards:

15000 Exp.

Ryo 150,000.

Failure:

Death.

[Accept (Y/N)]

Daichi read the details and was slightly confused. 'These rewards don't seem like much. And 68 unique beasts? That's not a lot of enemies….'

Daichi looked ahead and started walking forward. "Well, whatever the case… I don't plan on losing."

Daichi walked through the large expanse while keeping his senses on high alert. Daichi decided to not use the mini-map or his 'observe' skill for this challenge. He wanted to increase his own observational and analytical skills and rely on his senses instead of being completely dependent on the gamer abilities for everything.

He kept walking for over half an hour and then his senses picked up something. He heard the sounds of footsteps. And they were getting louder and louder with each second. Before long Daichi saw the cause of the sounds.

'Is that a…. it's a fucking Bison. But it's… It's huge.'

The Bison was covered in brown fun with a yellow stripe running down the middle and had two large horns on either side of its head. The most noticeable feature was its size. It was almost 3 times taller than Daichi.

"Rhaaa…." The Bison let out a roar as soon as it saw Daichi and rushed at him.

Daichi immediately went through hand-seals. 'Earth style - Mud River.'

[Earth Style - Mud River Jutsu - Active(LV. 3): A common Earth style jutsu that converts portions of the floor or ground that the user and their opponents are standing on into a raging avalanche of mud and earth. The opponent quickly loses his/her standing and starts being dragged along the flow of the river.]

[Rank: B.]

[Type: Ninjutsu]

[Hand Seals: Tiger - Ox - Dog - Snake.]

[CP Cost: 133 Per Use.]

The ground around the charging Bison turned from flat rock formation to a raging flow of mud and soft soil. It quickly lost its footing and due to its large size it quickly began to get dragged underground.

Daichi again quickly went through several seals.

"Earth style - Earth Dragon bomb."

A dragon head made of mud appeared out of the earth and several mud projectiles were launched out of its mouth. The mud projectiles struck the bison and it roared in pain.

Unable to defend itself, and due to the force of the impact the bison was dragged down and in seconds was completely submerged under the earth river.

After several seconds Daichi placed his hands on the ground and let the jutsu go and turned the earth back into a solid rock formation. He waited for several seconds and then a notification appeared.

[Enemy killed.]

+1000 Exp.

+150 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 01/68]

"Not a bad start."

—-

Daichi jumped back and evaded the sharp claws of black panther. He covered his hands with solid rock and struck the giant cat the next second sending it several meters away.

It was in the middle of the night and Daichi was traveling through the jungle. It was there he encountered the ferocious creature.

'Bisons, giant spiders and eagles, a four armed ape and now a panther. This place is truly one of a kind.'

The black panther was quick to recover and looked at Daichi with anger in its eyes. The most noticeable feature about the panther was that it had two tails. It circled Daichi while trying to find the best way to attack it's prey.

Daichi was unusually calm as he faced the giant creature. He had gotten used to the ferocious intent and due to his plentiful life or death battles he was not nervous.

The panther jumped with lightning speed and tried to claw at Daichi's head. Daichi dodged and quickly sent a powerful blow to its underbelly. The force sent the giant feline flying into a tree.

Daichi smirked at seeing the effects of his attack. 'This jutsu is perfect for Taijutsu users.'

[Earth Style - Fist Rock Jutsu - Active(LV. 2): The user encases the arm in a rock formation and deals a strong hardened punch against an opponent while being protected from direct contact with their target. The weight of the rock can be increased to further increase the power of the attack.]

[Rank: C.]

[Type: Ninjutsu]

[Hand Seals: Snake - Ram - Dog - Rat - Snake - Tiger.]

[CP Cost: 98 Per Use.]

'With this I can punch as hard as I want without getting my hands wrecked. But the negative side effect is this slightly reduces my speed. Against enemies who rely on strength this is perfect but for people like Lee… I'll need something else.'

[You have sensed killing intent.]

The panther got up and shook it's head. It glared and then ran at Daichi full speed. Daichi was faster than the beast and avoided the strikes while dealing damage to the beast. A powerful uppercut to the jaw staggered the animal and Daichi sent a powerful double blow to its head the next second. The strike ended the animal and it burst into smoke.

[Enemy killed.]

+1200 Exp.

+180 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 08/68]

'60 more to go.'

—-

There were several environments in this dungeon. From lush jungles to barren wastelands and snow covered hills to a small desert. Several large lakes were in between them.

Daichi realized that even though the number of enemies he had to fight was small, this dungeon was the biggest one he had encountered yet. He fought powerful animals of all kinds throughout the various habitats.

Daichi was currently in the snowy hills battling a Mammoth. He dodged the fast trunk and jumped back and gained some distance from the animal.

The Mammoth seeing its target avoiding it's strike, took in a lot of air and used it's trunk to shoot it out like bullets.

Daichi's eyes widened. 'Wind bullets. This thing can also use Ninjutsu too.'

During the battles in this dungeon Daichi found out that some animals were capable of using elemental attacks mimicking Ninjutsu.

Daichi evaded and ran to his right to take cover under a large rock. 'I've been attacking it for a while. It has some significant wounds and it's slowing down. This is the perfect time to finish it.'

He quickly created a lightning clone and had it run in the opposite direction. The Mammoth was a simple creature and followed the clone. Daichi created 3 shadow clones and quickly and silently surrounded the giant beast.

The lightning clone was chased and backed into a corner. Or at least that's what it looked like. The Mammoth used it's trunk to grab hold of Daichi and the moment it did the clone released itself and electrocuted and paralyzed the mammal.

Daichi and his clones quickly capitalized the moment and let loose some of their powerful attacks. One clone used lightning attacks to keep the animal paralyzed while the others used earth, fire and wind attacks. They used attacks that were suitable to be used as combination attacks and quickly finished the job.

[Enemy killed.]

+1550 Exp.

+232.5 Exp.

[Enemies killed: 61/68]

—-—-

Each beast in the dungeon was unique. There were no two of the same animal. Daichi realized that it was this reason that the dungeon had so few enemies. He traveled through the place for over 12 days and battled all types of creatures.

He defended himself against attacks that came from the sky and down from the earth. He had to find and kill some enemies that were deep beneath the lakes, which were some of his most difficult tasks in the dungeon. But on the 13th day he finished off his last opponent and the return key was delivered to him.

Author's Note:

Originally I planned on writing a 3 chapter dungeon run but then I scrapped the idea. Why drag things out. We're 90 chapters in and Daichi still hasn't left the academy. That was not part of my plan when I started writing the story. Honest to god. So I'm gonna be speeding things up a bit but not too much that it'd seem like I'm suddenly skipping things. I can't wait for his graduation, his missions and I'm most excited about the chunin arc. I already have his opponents in mind…

But still… That's a long way from now… My plan is to complete this story before Feb 2024. Maybe keep the story between 300 and 400 chapters long… I already have an end goal in mind. Just a matter of reaching it. Hope you guys stick with the journey to the end.

As always, If you enjoy my story then please take a moment to review and rate. A thumbs up always helps. 

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