Chapter 251: The Skeleton Dungeon; ;
WELCOME TO THE SKELETON DUNGEON, F
WARNING: THE LICH KING HAD BEEN RESURRECTED, AND ALL THE GUARDIANS HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED.
TARGET:
KILL THE LICH KING,
KILL THE SKELETON QUEEN.
Victor slowly opened his eyes and surveyed the area around him. It was very dark without any source of light, so he quickly took a flashlight from his ring and activated it, illuminating the ancient room he was in. It was a dusty old empty room, built of gray stone. It looked like the insides of a medieval castle... The room had three slim windows, embrasures they called them. They were filled with dirt though as if this entire place was a castle that sunk into the ground.
“Good,” he said. Constructed dungeons were very dangerous but also very rewarding.
Although they might contain deadly traps, they had big opportunities and treasures. This dungeon was not only part of a different world in the past, it was a part of a developed world!
Victor quickly made sure that the room around him was safe before activating his dungeon Map... He got this thanks to his dungeon explorer title.
“Wah...” he was a little shocked... This place was a big spiraling maze expanding in all directions... It even had 10 levels that grew larger toward the bottom. He was currently on the third floor.
Unfortunately, unlike the map he got for being the first one to enter the dungeon, this map was static. It didn’t show any player locations. Never mind that, he spotted two grand rooms that could be the boss’s room. One of them was close, two floors below him on the fifth floor. The other one was on the 9th.
This might take more time than anticipated, but he could do it if he hurried... The wedding must not be delayed.
Firstly he looked at the wooden door separating him from the corridor next to the room... how old was this door? Very old. Why was the wood still intact? It must be some very precious wood!
He nodded, then carefully unlocked the bolt locking the door from the inside then pushed it open... It was very heavy, and he could only open it after pushing with all of his strength.
There was nothing behind it. So Victor paused a second then took an E-ranked sword and hacked at the door.... It didn’t even leave a mark on it. The sword was chipped instead!
“Good wood!” he said as he began to find a way to take the door apart. Good materials are rare and should not be wasted as this dungeon would not be his after conquering it... He saw the emblems outside the tent, this dungeon should belong to the Free Players Association... That organization should have been formed about 50 years ago and has been slowly gaining momentum ever since... That Naomi outside was surely waiting to scout the best students.
He didn’t care about that for now and focused on disassembling the door by lifting it from its hinges.
Unfortunately for him, this thing was stuck hard. Even after trying for a couple of minutes, it didn’t budge... The hinges were all rusted inside. And it was some kind of super otherworldly rust!
He tried to spread some soul poison on it but it didn’t work as the hinges were metallic after all and the soul poison needed organic matter to work.
After some thinking, Victor took some of the green goo he was accumulating in his ring and spread it on the thing that began to hiss... As expected, he had seen this thing affect the ground after killing some targets. It’s slow but working... Apparently, after coming into contact with living matter, the soul poison turns into some sort of super corrosive substance.
After ten minutes or so, whatever super rust was in there all melted, so Victor could easily unhinge the door which he lifted from its place with great difficulty and then leaned it to the wall as he felt someone approaching.
Seemingly as he was working he caused some noise so a curious skeleton suddenly appeared behind him.
Looking behind in a hurry Victor quickly appraised it.
; ; SKELETON SOLDIER
STR: 31 / AGI: 21
Strong! Novice players would surely have trouble with it.
It was dressed in a rusting metal chain mail and a metal helmet like an ancient soldier.
As soon as the skeleton saw Victor, its eyes shone with an ominous green light as it lurched at him with its rusty sword which shattered like glass as it hit the wooden door which Victor used as a shield.
Victor was surprised. What kind of garbage weapons were those! What kind of castle was this where the doors were tougher than the weapons? Unless...
; ; Miracle Torch, F ; ; Demon slaying Sword, A ; ; Shield of the Cinders, A
“I don’t know...” she said awkwardly, she was not used to speaking politely with Victor, he was the last person on earth she expected to save her.
“Thank you for helping us...” one of the girls said just as came out from her hiding place and bowed politely. Victor remembers her, her name was Andrea she sat in front of the twins and was very polite.
“It’s my duty...” he said with a charming smile, “Did you locate the boss’s dungeon?” he asked as he watched the other girl searching the skeleton corpses. She found only a few gems... Only one skeleton had a silver ring on his finger, which Victor had already confiscated.
“No... Something is wrong here.” Isabella said as she sat near a wall catching her breath. “There might have been a mutation in the dungeon.”
“Ahh... what... Did anyone get hurt?” he asked as if he was really concerned.
“... Mark and Lucinda are dead...” Andrea answered him this time with a sad tone. There were tears in her eyes. Lucinda was her friend.
“Oh...” he sighed as if he cared, he couldn't even remember who those two were.
“So what’s the plan? Where are the other students? Are there any good proficient players other than teacher Isabella here?” Victor asked as he checked the hallways. Seemingly every skeleton around had already been drawn to the noise here and was killed.
“We haven't decided yet, the group originally had 30 students, three teachers, and two FPA mercenaries... most are missing now!” Isabella said, “We are regrouping on the upper floor, it’s safe there as we killed all the skeletons and barricaded the only stairway reaching it. We will wait for a week, by that time the academy should have realized that we are in trouble and they would surely send help!” she added as she stood up again, she couldn’t afford to rest. Tom had not been found yet.
“Oh... how many floors does this dungeon have?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet. I have been going around saving your classmates... I have only reached the fourth floor.” she said,
“Did you meet Mina or Mana?” he asked worriedly.
“Not yet... I only found / students until now...” she said... “you are the ninth... Now come, we must hurry back to the first floor with the girls. It is safe there... Hopefully Mr.Gold has found some other students.... “
“No... I plan to go down, I came here with Lily and Margret so if you meet them tell them that I will be heading to the boss’s room,” he said as he turned around
“Wait!” Isabella suddenly said, “Be careful, we are not the only ones here...”
“What?” he asked.
“Seemingly this dungeon is not new as we had been assuming. It might have been open for a few years. Presumably, some profiteering player found it and had been selling its info in secret. There was more than one group of rogue players who had been trying to conquer it.” she explained.
“What? How long have they been here?” he asked. He heard of those before. Players can only level up once they leave a dungeon, so if a weak player enters a high-ranking one, he can only hide around and survive waiting for help... Some of those players might not be good!
“I have no idea... We only met one guy, he said his group had 5 players left. They came here three months ago, just before the Free Player’s Association found this place. They were hiding on the fifth floor which is a little safer and has some edible things... he told us that there were others though, some were not that friendly... so be careful, and tell any students that you find, to find me on the upper floor....” she said.
“Teacher, aren’t you going to tell him to come with us? It’s dangerous!” Andrea was shocked by her teacher's irresponsible behavior.
“He is a member of a noble family, they had their ways....” Isabella said. In truth, she didn’t want Victor anywhere near her or her students. Sure, he was strong, but he was also a big bad wolf. He should go fight with the other bad wolves leaving them alone.
“Don’t worry about me,” Victor said with a smile as he patted Andrea’s head. This girl was not bad. Her class was a ‘Scout’ which was very good for surviving such dungeons, but she was still too immature.
“Ahhh...” the girl blushed then felt Victor stuff something into her hand. It was a storage ring... was he proposing? Even her father, the patriarch of her family, didn't have any of those rings!
“Keep it...” he said, “It only has a few cubic feet of volume, but it is filled with my new family energy bars,” he explained.
“The new super energy bars?” Isabella asked as she looked at the ring... it’s not like she was jealous, she had a ring, a better one..... But the energy bars were a treasure. They had just been released a week ago, and she didn’t have a chance to try them. According to the rumors you can fight for an entire day without feeling hungry after eating one of them!
“Yes... They taste like shit, so I don't want them anymore...” he said, making Isabella curse at him for being a spoiled brat.
“They will help you survive for the next few days,” Victor added in a soft voice, ignoring his teacher's glares.
“Thank you...” Andrea said as she held the ring tightly in her fingers and watched him walk away. “I will definitely pay you back!” she yelled behind him with a blush.