Despite the fact that I was inside one of the most dangerous places of the entire, I still had to admit one thing; it was beautiful.
The entirety of the cave was made with stalactites and rocks of red color, with bright orange veins running down the walls, floor and ceiling.
If it weren't for the extreme heat and its vicious inhabitants, I dare say that these caves would become one of the top most visited places of the entire game once the playing community achieved a higher enough level.
My trip was uneventful for the most part, which could be seen as either a struck of luck, or bad luck, depending on how you saw it.
One of the few encounters I had while exploring the rocky environment came in the form of a series of black shadows gliding through the ceiling of the cave.
Those shadows were Cave Bats, level 50~59 mobs.
The only reason such a low-level monster could live in these caves was because they were the only variety of monster capable of flying in this Map, no other such monsters lived here so they were relatively safe.
I seriously thought about making a contract with one of them, after all, a flying monster, not to say a flying mount, was a priceless asset inside the game, be it in the beginning or in the middle of it. Having the ability to travel long distances freely and being able to casts spells from the air? Who wouldn't want that?
But I dismissed such thoughts as soon as they appeared in my mind, after all, how was I supposed to beat one of those monsters?
I was alone, under leveled, and unequipped. Only by laying in a silver plate with an apple in my mouth would I be an even easier prey to those guys.
My only chance would be to contract with one of their babies, but the chances of that happening were near to none. There was a possibility, but I wasn't going to throw my life away; not when better opportunities could appear later on.
And a better opportunity did appear.
I had just evaded a pair of Fire Snakes in the middle of some sort of 'courtship ritual' when the sound of a battle entered my ears.
Turning a corner I found myself amidst a clash of 'titans' so to speak. A giant Lava Golem was fighting an equally large Hell Hound, and it seemed like they were both in a deadlock with the hound sitting on the golem's neck while biting his neck whilst the golem tried to pull the canid off of him.
The monsters were level 80 and 82, respectively, and both were as imposing as one would think.
The Golem was easily 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) tall and with exception of his chest and head, the entirety of his body was composed of molten rock, veins with flowing lava visible across his chest as if they were veins.
The Hell Hound on the other hand was at most 2 meters (6'5") tall and 3 meters (10 feet) long. His entire fur was pitch-black like charcoal and, although it was called a dog, its face was like a mix between the face of a cat and a bulldog, truly monstrous.
Lurking through the many rocks around the area I seriously started thinking that lady luck had finally smiled to me, after all, if I could contract even one of these monsters I would be able to sweep through the lower level dungeons and take all the 'Fist Clear' loot without a problem!
But then, another thought crossed my mind. What if I could contract with both?
The Lava Golem was the perfect Tank, with high Defense e Damage not only could it resist a lot of damage, but it could also give one heck of a punch with both physical and fire damage.
On the other hand the Hell Hound was the perfect DPSer, with high agility and the ability to spit fireballs, this dog could deal a lot of damage in just a few seconds, and as a bonus, it was one of the best trackers one could ask for.
If I left them to fight against each other until they both were at death's door to then make a contract with both colossi; I would be invincible during the first stages of the game.
As these thoughts ran inside my head the battle continued to escalate.
The Golem threw the hound on the ground and gave off a might roar that shook the entire cave. The Hound spit a fireball straight to the pile of rocks' face in response before pouncing on his chest to claw at the lava veins.
The giant became so furious that rather than punching the hound or sending him flying, he wrapped his arms around the Hell Hound and started squeezing him.
The dog's black fur started releasing smoke and pained whines came right after. The Hell Hound was made to hunt in the open by using his speed so he lacked a proper defense, and against the golem's crunching strength, well, he didn't stand a chance.
Or so I thought until he blew away part of the golem's face, freeing himself.
The golem hurriedly covered his face while swaying from one side to another while the giant canid breathed heavily as if the fight had ended. But even after having half his head destroyed the giant of lava was still alive, although the same couldn't be said of his health, which was reaching 30%.
Not only was the golem alive, but I also think that that blow to his face made him go completely mad.
A red glow started appearing around him, although it was quite hard to see due to his color scheme, signaling that he had entered a Berserker state.
What followed were balls of molten rock being thrown everywhere by the giant, leaving explosions after explosions occurring against the cave's walls.
Maybe I should have kept my distance from them, but I really wanted to get one of them, so … I ended up being blown away by the shockwave from one of the explosions.
When I noticed what was happening I discovered that there was no ground both behind and under me, only a gap a little bigger than me.
I tried to grab on the edge of the floor, but before I could do so I found myself already falling through the unknown darkness, that is, until I fell onto something hard and smooth.
The developers were very kind by creating a toboggan inside the cave; and I am pretty sure I would have enjoyed it were I not screaming like a little girl from fear of dying.
I don't know how long the trip was, it felt like just a few seconds, and at the same time an eternity, but the end came as abrupt as the start, with me being launched in the air before crashing head first against the floor and with my back against a wall. It wasn't my best landing, but, hey, it was better than being dead.
Cracking my back and neck I stood up and started scanning my surroundings.
The heat in this lower level was way higher than in the upper layer, but at the same time, it was cold? There was a breeze in here that I could not explain, and what was weirder was the sound of waves crashing against the shore that filled the dome like cavern.
Ding!
< You are the first Player to discover "Boromir's Lair"! >
< World Reputation increased by 100 points >
I inwardly cursed, "Sh*t".