"Today is a great day for dungeon diving." And the others certainly agreed. It was far better to be in a dungeon where they wouldn't have to worry about the dreary rain and dark clouds overhead. It was the type of day that would sap your will to do anything, if you let it. But once they were inside the dungeon, that would all be forgotten.
This time around, they had brought a few of the level 2's. Jay wasn't sure on all their names, but they were really just there to hit level 3. His team would be doing all the work.
Between Jay, Sarah, Andrew, Pete and Kyle, they had a chance at taking on the third and possibly even fourth floors. Of them, Pete was the only one that was classless, but he assured them he was getting close.
As always, their party of 10 began with Jay burning down an underground forest. He might have felt bad if it didn't grow back each time that they entered the dungeon. Still, it was easy XP and he was glad it was there.
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
Just this section was already enough to level up the level 2's. Roughly 50 monsters giving 25 XP each is a pretty big gain, especially at their level. Since most of them had some left over from their last runs, it was only natural for them to level here.
The party finished the first floor without incident and quickly moved on to the second floor. With Jay's mana recovery and spell efficiency, it'd be a while before he ran out of mana.
The second floor had a few close calls, but Bluejay and Addy were able to protect the weaker members of the group from dying while the main group took down their enemies. It was actually going better than expected, considering half their party was relatively untrained and untried in combat.
It wasn't until the healing boss that they had their first real injury. Expecting their only enemies to be the ones above the entrance, Jay and his crew moved in to fight without leaving protection for the group behind them. It was at that moment that a group of normal Cercopes decided to attack from the rear.
There weren't many and fortunately the group managed to take them down before anyone died, but one of delvers lost an arm. While Jay could heal the wound, he'd be unable to do as much as the healers they'd left on the surface. Just another reminder to bring one of them with each party.
A bit disappointed, Jay led the group back to the surface, where everyone but Jay leveled up. It wasn't much of a surprise that the level 2's reached 3, but it was nice to see the rest of his friends hit level 4. Now they could definitely try the fourth floor.
Declining the eager group of would-be human baggage, Jay led his team of 5 (plus a dungeon healer) into the dungeon. Once again, they flew through the first 2 floors. With the help of the healer, they didn't suffer any large injuries and could fight more freely. Pete, in particular, went all in on the offense. He ignored cuts and scratches and even the occasional minor stab wound in favor of disemboweling his enemies.
His bat was brutal, ripping bodies apart and smashing limbs and skulls like rock candy. But he looked happy and he was undoubtably effective, so the group let him be. All it meant was that they had to stop every now and then for the healer to regain their mana. Once Jay taught them about the meditation skill, that time shortened considerably.
In that manner, the group of 6 quickly reached and defeated the second-floor boss, before turning to the third floor.
The third floor was like night and day compared to the first two. Rather than a bright tropical jungle, they found themselves in a much darker, colder jungle. More importantly, many of the creatures they fought seemed to use the shadows and cold as weapons.
Jaguars leapt out of shadows. Birds would disappear and reappear behind them. Any Cercopes they saw fired jagged bolts of ice at them. And that was just in the first 2 caverns.
Seeing the power of the jaguars, Jay was rather excited for Silver's growth, but he still did his best to stay focused. They might look like big versions of his pet, but they certainly didn't want to cuddle in his lap.
They somehow managed to fight these new creatures all the way to the boss room. Unlike the previous floor, a healing Cercopes was waiting with a substantially larger water Cercopes. What worried Jay, however, was how many shadows the room had.
If these were just buffed versions of the last floor, they'd be fine. But this floor had shown them that monsters could make use of the dark, darting from shadow to shadow or attacking from beneath them.
As Jay was preparing to lead them carefully forward, Pete suddenly ran forward, screaming. It was an impressive scream, but it completely ruined any chances they had of surprising their enemy. He went straight for the monster healer, but right before he got there, Jay saw a shadow moving in behind him.
He cast a ball of light (not that he knew how he did it) straight at the moving shadow. With a screech, a small, dark Cercopes fell on the ground. It seemed hyper-sensitive to the light and continued to writhe on the floor. Within moments, Sarah had finished it off with a perfectly-aimed arrow.
[Party member has slain a Juvenile Shadow Cercopes. 750 XP rewarded. You are in a dungeon. XP rewards will be given when you complete the dungeon.]
Meanwhile, Kyle was busy setting up spikes and walls all over the place. Two spikes pierced the healing Cercopes, but nothing could get through the bigger water ape.
It crushed the spikes with ease, darting towards the group of attackers. Fortunately, it ignored Pete who was busy destroying the healer (and he seemed to be doing quite a good job). Instead, it ran straight at Jay.
Jay fired several bolts of twin lightning strikes at the charging beast, but it merely slowed it, rather than stop it. It seemed to have some sort of barrier surrounding it, limiting the damage it took. Even Sarah's arrows seemed to lose most of their speed when clashing with the barrier.
Within moments, it was in front of them. Jay and Sarah dove to the left. Andrew and Pete went to the right. And then it hit their healer.
They'd been in the back, where they should be, but they couldn't move fast enough, even with the extra time they'd been given. A boulder-sized fist crashed into their chest, firing them into the wall several yards behind them. They crumpled and didn't stand back up.
Without a healer to help them, the fight got notably harder. The pets were busy biting and tearing at the bigger ape, with the humans helping from behind. By this point, Pete had finished off the healer, so it was only the big guy left, but they were all sustaining wounds.
Pete was the worst of them, having discarded defense in favor of pure power. He was bleeding before he took on the water ape, and he quickly found himself unconscious on the floor. Kyle was just a bit too slow with one of his dodges, and his ankle broke like glass. It was still attached, but he couldn't move and the pain seemed to throw off his casting.
Jay took a surprise shot of ice to the shoulder, just barely missing his neck or heart, but was able to continue fighting. And eventually, they were able to take the beast down. They were broken, battered and bruised, but they beat it.
[Party has slain an Elder Water Cercopes. 1000 XP rewarded. You have completed the third floor of Level 1-10 Forest Cavern Dungeon. Would you like to exit and claim rewards or continue?]
[Choice accepted. Determining rewards…Rewards determined.
First floor clear rewards: 100 gems.
Second floor clear rewards: 200 gems.
Third floor clear rewards: 1000 gems, Juvenile Shadow Cercopes core, 5 nightsteel ore.
Please come again.]
And with that, the group found themselves outside the dungeon and back in camp. They all started their painful crawl to the healer's tent before Jay remembered the injured healer. He turned back to help, only to realize there was no one there. The dungeon hadn't sent them out, which could only mean one thing—Jay had failed again.
Anger and frustration overwhelmed him to the point that he stopped feeling pain. If he'd only been more careful, people would stop dying. He kept telling them to follow him and they kept dying! This couldn't go on. If it did, Jay would just have to take care of everything himself.
[Congratulations! You have learned the Rage skill. Diminishes sense of pain and allows for a state of complete rage as you batter down your enemies. What's a little cut when the other guy is in pieces?]
Seriously? Great! Even the system thought he was crazy. Fuck you, system.
As he gradually regained his senses, which sadly included pain, Jay realized that his friends were chatting animatedly.
"I finally unlocked a class! I told you it'd be cool. Battlerager sounds way better than some 'beginner mage'. Besides, all I have to do is swing my bat a whole bunch!" With all the misfortunes this dive had dealt, at least Pete finally had a class. And Jay had to admit, it did sound pretty cool.
Also, he had 2 notifications.
[Level up! You have reached level 5.]
[Restoring user mana and health. As an Elemental Archmage, you have received +2 Intelligence and +1 Will. You have 3 unspent status points.]
[Level up! You have reached level 6.]
[Restoring user mana and health. As an Elemental Archmage, you have received +2 Intelligence and +1 Will. You have 3 unspent status points.]