“Did you guys mao clear out all the monsters?” Daisuke inquired as they he entrao the hidden chamber.
The tank nodded in affirmation. “Yes, but it probably won’t be too long before they all respawn.”
“In that case,” Lyanna began, “we probably shouldn’t linger here for too long.”
“We should make haste and decide on our move,” the samurai suggested.
As they approached the final turn leading into the chamber, Rexar’s eyes widened in disbelief. Elena y motionless on the ground, her body still bearing severe burns. Milo k beside her, his expression grave.
“Elena!” Rexar called out in a panic, abandoning Daisuke to rush to her side.
Daisuke stumbled briefly, his annoyance evident in narrowed eyes. He sighed as the tank hurried to support him.
“Milo!” Rexar shouted in exasperation. “Tha’ hell are you doing? Why haven’t you healed Elena?”
Milo recoiled as if expeg to be hit. “I’m sorry,” he cried out, “I’ve run out of mana, and I don’t have any potions.”
Rexar ched his teeth in frustration, his shoulders slumping in despair. “Dammit. Elena, I’m so sorry…”
Milo’s gaze shifted to the motionless girl. “Even if… I had all my mana,” he hesitated, “I’m not sure if I would have enough power to heal her wounds.”
Lyanna lowered her gaze iion. “I’m sorry,” she began, “I used up the st of my potions a while ago.”
The others hung their heads i, realizing their predit was more or less the same.
DING!
[Save Elena!]
[Quest Difficulty: E
Elena had always maintained a low profile, a strategy to shield her ambitions from the potentially destructive animosity of others. Yet, despite her best efforts, misfortune mao seep through the crevices of her blessings, threatening to undermine her cherished goals.
Clear ditions: Heal Elena so that she fulfill her promise to her family and friends.
Rewards:
?? Affinity with Elena, Rexar, and Milo +70%
?? EXP +15,000
?? A favorable enter
Quest Failure:
?? Elena will succumb to her wounds
?? Affinity with Rexar and Milo -35%
?? The party’s morale will plummet, l your ces of surviving the dungeon.]
Without a word, Daisuke withdrew his arm from the tank’s shoulder and sloroached Elena. Kneeling beside her, he extended his palm and willed an item from his iory.
Rexar’s eyes widened in surprise. “Th-That’s… are you really willing to use that for us? I mean… it must be worth a ton of gold.”
“Do you remember what I told Osten?” Daisuke remihem, prompting everyoo recall his words.
— “I don’t think you clearly uand the situation we’re in. We’ve fallen into a dungeon.”
“Besides,” Daisuke tinued, “Elena’s life is worth much more than just a handful of gold. All your lives are. If we want to get out of here in one piece, we’ll o pull together to make it happen.”
Determined nods circuted among the group, reassured that their well-being was held in such high regard. At the same time, Daisuke uncorked the vial and carefully poured the pink liquid with utmost care over Elena’s wounds.
[Burn Heal]
[A healing brew, cocted from a careful blend of five ingredients, with the Lunarfrost Lily as its core element. Upon application, it s the affected area in a cool, soothing aura, swiftly redug infmmation and expediting healing.
Item Effect: Heals burn wounds of any degree and replenishes 450 HP.
Cooldown: 20 Seds]
Everyoched in delight as Elena’s wound quickly disappeared, and the frown that onitted her delicate eyebrows gradually faded. In a final touch, Daisuke gently lifted her head and administered a potion to fully restore her health.
[Small HP Recovery Potion]
[A potion brewed by biniia Flowers and Vitaberries. Its restorative potency varies depending on the tration grade.
Item Effect: Replenishes 450 health
Cooldown: 20 Seds]
DING!
[The quest ?Save Elena? has been pleted!]
[15,000 Experience Points have been acquired.]
[Affinity with Elena, Rexar, and Milo has increased by 70%.]
“Thank you,” Milo said with a deep bow. “I ’t even begin to imagine what might’ve happened if you hadn’t been here.”
Rexar turned his head to the side with a pout, a rebellious blush staining his cheeks. “…I owe you one.”
Daisuke ged. Is he secretly some kind of tsundere? “Does anyone else need a potion?” he inquired.
Milo shook his head. “I’ve already taken one.”
“Same here,” said another.
“I’m fine.”
Lyanna added her voice. “And you?”
“I’m good,” Daisuke reassured them. “I did leave my dagger by the Fluardian’s corpse though, so I’ll head back out for a moment.”
Nods of agreement circuted among the group.
“Be careful,” Lyanna urged, her evident. “Our fates are iwined, and we ’t afford anything happening to you.”
“On sed thought,” the tank began, “maybe I should apany you, just to be safe.”
“I’ll be fine,” Daisuke asserted. “In the meahe rest of you should get some rest. We’ll discuss our move when I get back.”
Ihan ten mio everyone’s relief, Daisuke safely reappeared, his Bonepick securely stowed away in his iory. Elena had awakened, her cheeks brightening with color at his return.
“Good to see you’re awake,” Daisuke greeted. “How are you feeling?”
Elena fidgeted with her fingers shyly, her gaze struggling to meet his. “F-Fihanks to you.”
“That’s a relief,” Daisuke replied. “You gave us a bit of a scare there.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I should’ve been more cautious.”
“It’s not your fault,” Rexar interjected. “It’s that rat bastard Osten; he doesn’t have a shred of de him.”
Everyone nodded in unison.
“In any case,” Daisuke began, “it’s all in the past now. Our immediate focus should be on uanding our situation and finding a way out.”
“I add some crity to that,” Lyanna offered calmly as she made her way to the ter of the group with a sti hand. “While you were away, I used my skill to map the immediate topography of the dungeon…”
A palpable tension filled the air at her ominous pause.
“From what I gather,” she tinued, using the stick to illustrate, “this dungeon has 12 floors, and we’re currently here.” She poio a crudely drawn bubble a few levels down. “We fell into an isoted chamber on the fifth floor, and we’re surrounded by bedrock.”
Daisuke frow the news. Acc to Thalia, dungeons had a minimum of at least 10 floors, but there were those that had as many as 100 or more.
Luckily, this particur dungeon only had 12 floors. But the fact still remaihat they had fallen into an incredibly dangerous pd was noed at nearly half its depth.
“What exactly does that mean?” the tank inquired.
“It means that unless we all fly, there’s no way back up. The walls around us are imperable, so our only option is to desd. If we follow this vein,” she drew an uneven line leading several levels down, “we should reach the tenth floor. From there, we begin asding to the surface since all the floors will be interected.”
“Are you kidding?” Rexar excimed. “You seriously want us to venture deeper into the dungeon?”
“Do you have a better pn?” Lyanna challenged. “If so, I’m all ears.”
“Dammit!” Rexar drove his fist into his palm. “I feel like I want to punch Osten square in the face; this is all his fault!”
The samurai coughed, peeking through one eye pyfully. “Well, if I recall correctly, you were one of the first in lio grab a Mana Crystal.”
Rexar stammered. “Ah—well, that was… you see…”
Laughter erupted among the group, a moment of relief amidst their challenging circumstances.
***
Following a unanimous decision to venture onward to the tenth floor, the party embarked on their sloerilous dest through a narrow crevi the ground. Daisuke had Zephyr cradled in his shirt, the pup still soundly asleep.
To ease the sense of custrophobia, they engaged in versation as they desded. The lumi fungi g to the walls, casting a soothing blue glow upon their faces. The atmosphere was chilly, and the air hung heavy with mustiness and humidity.
Surprisingly, Milo remained calm despite his earlier nervousness. As versation flowed, Daisuke discovered that the tank’s name was Gavrid the samurai’s name was Finnian. Like Elena, Rexar, and Milo, they had been adventurers for a signifit period of time but struggled to make substantial progress.
As they carefully desded along the vertical path, Daisuke took a moment to i his rewards from the Fluardian raid.
[Novice Dagger Mastery]
[Rank: Normal
Cssification: Passive Skill
Lvl: 1
Proficy: 0%
Dedicated practid extended use of dagger-type ons have sharpened your proficy with these bdes.
Skill Effect:
?? Enhances Physical Attack Power by 5% and boosts Attack Speed by 10% when wielding a dagger-type on.
?? Expands your foundational expertise in diverse dagger-fighting teiques. As your profi this skill grows, so does your mastery of these teiques.]
I figured it was just a matter of time before I got this, Daisuke thought mentally, but why does it feel like it took way lohan the polearm and archery on mastery that I don’t even use? Is the System messing with me?
[Magic s]
[Rank: Normal
Cssification: Active Skill
Lvl: 1
Proficy: 0%
Using the art of shape manipution, mana is fed into golden s desigo ensnare and immobilize targets. The s’ strength depends on the tration of mana and the unwavering will of the caster.
Skill Effect:
?? Entraps targets at a cost of 5 mana per sed. For more formidable adversaries, the mana cost scales with their strength.
Mana Cost: 10
Skill Cooldown: 10 Seds]
[Swift Leather Boots]
[Rank: Rare
Type: Footwear | Light Armor
Durability: 53/53 | Physical Defense: 9 | Magical Defense: 16 | Movement Speed: +10% | Evasion Rate: +10
Finely-crafted leather boots that bestow the wearer with exceptional speed and agility, allowing them to dart through challenges with grad swiftness.
When a speed-type skill is activated, either by you or a party member, there is a ce of activating the Haste skill, granting a 30-sed burst of heightened speed.
?? Agility +3
?? Int +5
?? ce ering Haste +10%
ditions of Use: Lvl 21+ | Strength 70+ | Stamina 50+]
Alright, I take it back, repented Daisuke. I suppose the System isn’t so bad. I’ve got plenty of titles and passives, but Magic s is only my sed active skill, and it’s not just your typical active skill either—it’s a CC skill.
CC skills, short for ?crowd trol?, grant the ability to partially or fully incapacitate one or more individuals or monsters, hindering their movement, on usage, or ability deployment using skills such as stuns and knockbacks.
In any situation, CC skills reduce the number of adversaries actively participating in an enter and makes it possible to down enemies without sustaining much or any damage. Being overwhelmed bees less likely as well.
With Magic s, I immobilize multiple foes and deal with them at my own pace. My innate speed coupled with the haste skill on the new boots will make that pace pretty impressive. It’s a shame the trigger rate is only 10%, and I’ll have to wait until I get to the level before I equip it.
But—
[oner’s Boots]
[Rank: Normal
Type: Garment
Durability: 3/5
Unremarkably on, unassuming boots with subpar durability, typically seen on the feet of ordinary folks.
ditions of Use: None]
Even without the options, it’s definitely better than the pair of junk I’m currently wearing, Daisuke thought embarrassingly. If I make it out of this dungeon, I really o i ier gear—
“Whoa!”
A poorly pced step sent pebbles plummeting down the narrow crevice.
Gavric, who was climbing down above Daisuke, looked down in . “Are you alright?” He asked, his deep voice eg through the cramped space.
Daisuke grunted as he shifted his weight tain his bance. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied, his voice slightly strained.
“Watch your footing; this climb isn’t fiving if you slip.”
“You’re definitely right about that. I’ll be more careful.”
Daisuke sighed. I probably shouldn’t be multitasking while I’m up here; it would be a shame if I got done in by falling to my death rather than in a fight against the monsters.
