"What the hell does that mean?! Forced dungeon mutation?!"Nori shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.
"I think the captain did something from outside. This will be a lot harder now.." Govad said looking around.
"A lot?! This is near impossible! Everything here is twice your level! Not to mention Lusha, Klyn and myself haven't even gone through our first evolution! Hell, Shizuka has it the worst! Everything is 10 times her level! Curse that shitty old man! Is he trying to get us all killed?!" Nori cursed.
"It seems that might be the case." Lusha said with an sad smile.
"We can still do this, we just need to take it slow. Unfortunately this will take a lot longer than I thought, which will make food a problem. First we need to find a safe place that we can retreat back to so we can rest and recover our strength. Shizuka you need to.... Wait where'd Shizuka go?" Govad said looking around.
"Grrr...." Klyn growled pointing up into one of the trees.
While the others had been talking, Shizuka had climbed up a tree to get a better view of their surroundings. Luckily there were no monsters close by or they would have come running due to Nori's shouting. They were currently in an open area filled with dead trees, the only remaining thing from the rainforest they were in previously.
The 'dead forest' they were in was connected to a ravine going between two cliff faces, leading towards the volcano in the center. Off to the right the cliff was split in two as a large fissure went down the middle.
'Maybe we could find some shelter in there.' she thought looking down at the group.
Climbing back down the tree she rejoined the others.
"Did you see anything we could use as a temporary base?" Govad asked.
Nodding her head Shizuka pointed towards the fissure that she spotted.
Looking in that direction Govad nodded his head. "We'll make our way that way, Klyn we'll be relying on that nose of yours, if you smell anything near by let us know so we can do our best to avoid them. We need to plan our first few kills in advance until our levels match theirs."
Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow Shizuka nodded in acknowledgment.
'Aurora would be happy, looks like I do sweat. This heat is unbearable... Figures, being a Snow Girl and all this is NOT where I belong..'
The party slowly made their way through the dead forest, doing their best to stay as quiet as possible.
*SNIFF SNIFF*
"Grrr.." Klyn growled as he pointed towards the left.
Angling towards the right the group avoided any confrontations like this until they made it to the cliffside. Skirting along the cliff they quickly made it to the fissure.
"This could work, hopefully there is a cave inside. If there is that would be perfect, we could set up traps leading to it if anything follows us in." Govad stated as they peeked into the fissure.
Luckily the coast was clear as the party made their way inside.
Looking around, Shizuka noted that the fissure was almost 10 meters wide and could easily fit something very large. Spotting a cave up ahead Shizuka tapped Govad's shoulder pointing towards it.
"I see it. Klyn do you smell anything?" Govad responded.
Klyn shook his head as the party sighed in relief, quickening their step.
Reaching the cave the party peeked in to see if anything was inside. The cave was pretty wide but didn't go very deep. It would make a perfect base though, the only thing that was in the cave was a large rock in the middle.
As they made their way inside the cave Shizuka could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she sensed danger. Reaching out she grabbed Govad's shoulder, but it was too late.
The rock in the center of the room started to move, breaking apart as it sprouted arms and legs. Standing up the rock turned around to show what looked to be a head on top. Red lines went through it's body that seemed to move and pulse, on closer inspection it seemed to be Lava.
[Lava Golem - Level 40]
"Looks like we have to fight for our new home. Lusha!" Govad said bringing out his sword and shield and stepping in front of the party.
"On it!" Lusha replied, pulling out a staff, a golden magic circle spread out from under her. "Blessing!"
[MDEF and PDEF increased by 50, Regen 10 HP per second]
"It's not much, so don't let it hit you!" Lusha shouted out.
"Dragon Skin! Taunt!" Govad shouted as he slammed his sword into his shield.
Turning towards Govad the Golem raised it's hands and slammed down. Jumping to the side to avoid the strike he shouted out, "I've got it's attention! Start damaging it!"
"Attackers Blessing!" Lusha said, another magic circle spreading out from under her.
[Armor penetration +30, STR +15]
Klyn grabbed his sword and growled as a red aura surrounded his blade. Rushing forward he slammed his sword against the Golem's leg.
*CLANG*
As Klyn jumped back Shizuka noticed a small chip was taken out of it's leg where he had struck.
Nori joined him as she pulled out a dagger, muttering something the dagger was suddenly covered in a green mist. She jumped up and attacked the back of the Golem's head, slashing across it's neck. The green mist seemed to seep into the Golem as a deep roar came rumbling out.
Seeing the Golem raise it's arms to attack again, Shizuka summoned two ice spears, sending them into the Golem's shoulder joints, freezing them over. The heat the Golem was emitting melted the ice in a matter of seconds, but it gave the party enough time to get out of the way.
*SMASH*
The Golem slammed it's arms down, dirt and chunks of rock flew out from the small crater the blow had created.
"Don't let that hit you!" Lusha shouted out.
The party continued like this for a while, slowly chipping away at it's HP. Luckily the Golem's movements were easy to predict, with Shizuka freezing it's joints, it gave the party plenty of time to avoid the attacks. Slowly but surely, cracks started to form around the Golem's body, showing their progress.
"We have a problem.." Lusha said standing next to Shizuka. "Nobody here can land the final blow. A monster will stay at 1 HP until a killing blow can be dealt, but nobody here who has an attack penetrating enough to kill a Golem.."
The cracks in the Lava Golem suddenly started to glow red, flames flickering out of them as a red glow surrounded it's body.
"It's enraged! Get out of the way!" Govad shouted.
"Fire resistance!" Lusha shouted out.
[Fire Resistance +20%]
Suddenly the Golem burst into flames, lava spurting from the cracks in it's body. A shockwave shot out from it as it slammed it's arms into the ground. Lusha and Shizuka stumbled back as they were a fair distance from it, however the other three weren't so lucky. Klyn and Nori had managed to put some distance between them, but the shockwave still sent them flying into the wall. Govad being the closest to it, barley managed to raise his shield in time as the shockwave hit him, sending him flying into the wall as well.
*CRASH*
Pulling themselves out of the wall, the three fell to their knees, coughed up blood profusely as their HP shot down at a rapid pace.
"Heal! Heal! Heal!" Lusha shouted out, panicking. A green glow covered Govad, Nori and Klyn's body as their HP started to raise slowly.
Seeing this Shizuka channeled her mana, continuously covering the Golem's legs in ice to keep it from moving, buying them some time to recover.
"Keep him pinned for as long as you can!" Lusha ordered as she continued to heal the three.
The three struggled to get to their feet as their HP rose at a steady rate.
*COUGH COUGH*
"I have an idea." Govad said coughing. "When I say go, Shizuka stop pinning him, Lusha give her a blessing to regen her mana faster. I will keep it busy while Shizuka regens her MP. Once your MP is full I want you to freeze this bastard solid, we should be able to kill it after that."
Once his HP was full Govad shouted out "Dragon's Fury!" A red aura covered him as his muscles bulged, his scales glowing red. "Go!"
"Mana Blessing!" Lusha said as a blue glow covered Shizuka.
[MP regen +25%]
Shizuka stopped channeling her mana, looking at her status.
MP: 213/1100
Even coupling the blessing with her passive regen speed it would take several minutes to recover to full. Gritting her teeth she stood there feeling useless as Govad kept the Lava Golem busy.
Lusha continued to heal Govad as he was dodging the Golems attacks. The heat that the lava golem was putting off was slowly draining his HP.
"His berserk skill lasts for 5 minutes, will your MP regen by then?" Lusha asked with concern.
Looking at her regen speed Shizuka thought for a second then nodded, it should barely make it in time.
The seconds felt like minutes as Shizuka watched Govad barely managing to dodge the attacks. Now that it was enraged the Golem's attacks were faster than before.
Looking down at her status again Shizuka saw that she was almost ready.
*BAM*
Looking up Shizuka saw a blow finally connect with Govad as he was sent flying past them, back into the fissure and slamming against the wall on the far side.
"NO!!!" Lusha exclaimed rushing over to his side.
Time seemed to slow down for Shizuka as she looked around. Nori and Klyn's faces were full of fear as they looked over at Govad. Tears were streaming down Lusha's face as she tried her best to heal Govad, who was coughing up blood. The Lava Golem was slowly walking towards them, flames erupting from it. The heat was causing the stone on the ceiling of the cave to drip molten lava.
One thought ran through Shizuka's mind as she saw this.
'We're going to die...'
Fear started to take over as she looked at the Golem walking towards her.
"DO IT!!!!" Govad shouted out between his gasps for breath, snapping Shizuka back to reality.
Raising her arms Shizuka pushed all her mana to her hands as streams of ice flew out of her palms towards to advancing Golem, hitting it in the chest. The golem started to slow as ice grew out from where the streams hit it, slowly covering it's body. Pushing harder Shizuka forced the streams to grow in size, forcing the Golem back a bit.
Ice started to cover the Golems legs and arms as it's hand reached out to crush Shizuka. Slowly the ice encased the entire Golem from head to toe as it finally stopped moving, it's hand inches from grabbing her.
Releasing the breath she didn't realize she was holding, Shizuka stumbled backwards, falling onto her butt while gasping for breath.
However the respite did not last long as steam started to emit from the Golem encased in ice, slowly melting it.
Not letting the chance slip by, Nori and Klyn rushed forward.
"Kill this fucking bastard!!" Nori shouted out.
Both of them used their strongest attacks as waves of energy erupted from their blades as they stuck the Golem, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.
*DING DING DING DING DING DING*
Several notifications popped up on Shizuka's system signaling that the Golem was finally dead.
They didn't have time to see what they received though. Shizuka, Klyn and Nori all rushed over to Govad's side.
Looking down Shizuka was shocked at what she saw. Govad's armor was shredded, parts of it were melted, his shield was laying on the ground with a hole through it. But worst of all was the very visible dent in his chest. The strike had crushed and broken all his ribs, likely puncturing several internal organs.
Lusha was sitting by his side sobbing as she attempted to heal him. Despite the healing he was receiving, his HP was still going down.
"Hic... My healing.. Hic... Isn't enough." Lusha stammered through her tears.
Klyn kneeled down, putting a hand on Govad's shoulder, sadness filled his eyes as he whimpered.
"This is that fucking assholes fault! If they hadn't mutated the dungeon...!" Nori clenched her fists trying to hold back her own tears.
Shizuka looked down at Govad, who was nearing the end of his life. Despite not knowing him for long, she had come to respect and look up to him.
'If only I was stronger... If only I could have helped more.. maybe this wouldn't have happened..' she thought.
*COUGH*
"Listen.. You all can get through this if you stick together." Govad sputtered out. "Take it slow... don't take risks like this... always think about a way to retreat.."
*COUGH COUGH*
"Remember... to stick.... together..."
Govad's breathing started to slow as the light left his eyes. Eventually it stopped all together.
Lusha, Klyn and Nori could no longer hold back their tears as they started sobbing.
Shizuka gripped her dress as her own tears started to well up.
'If only I was stronger...'
***********************
Silence filled the cave as the party prepared it for a temporary living area. Nori and Klyn exited the cave to go and setup some traps and triggers to alert them if a monster was near. Lusha was setting up a campfire and some bedding with some resources they had scrounged up from the surrounding area.
They had buried Govad just outside the cave, using the Golem's head as a tombstone. Unfortunately it was the best they could do under the circumstances. They couldn't carry his body around with them as much as they wanted to, it would end up getting the rest of them killed.
The harsh reality had set it, this was a level 40 Dungeon, this was no walk in the park. It was very likely that this would end up being the resting place for all of them.
"Status" Shizuka mouthed.
[ Name: Shizuka
Race: Snow Girl
Titles: Beginner Monster (3/10 Humans killed, +10% all Stats)
Level: 4 ->15
Class: Snow Girl, Enslaved
HP: 1100/1100
MP: 2200/2200
VIT: 20 -> 40 (44)
STR: 20 -> 40 (44)
INT: 40 -> 80 (88)
DEX: 15 (16)
AGI: 25 -> 55 (60)
MDEF: 200
PDEF: 100
Unassigned Points: 110 -> 0
(): Finalized stats after factoring in equipment, titles and buffs (Rounded down).
Skills:
Ice Creation Magic: As a Snow Girl you can freely use and create ice to create anything you can imagine. Increased scale of creation increases mana cost.
Cost: Depends on Creation
Cooldown: N/A
Frosty Aura (Passive) - As a Snow Girl your skin is always cold, depending on your anger the aura can expand, covering your surroundings in a layer of ice and snow.
Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A ]
She had gained 11 levels off of the Lava Golem, which gave her 110 points to spare. Distributing her stats, she sighed looking at them.
'They're leagues better, but still nowhere near where I need them to be. That Golem was a floor one monster, not a boss or a mini-boss. This is going to be rough...' Shizuka thought to herself, dismissing her screen.
"The traps are setup. We will hear it if something triggers them." Nori said as she and Klyn came back into the cave.
Looking at three others levels, all three of them had reached level 20.
[Nori - Assassin - Level 20]
[Klyn - Swordsman - Level 20]
[Lusha - Cleric - Level 20]
The rest of their EXP gained was hidden as it wouldn't show until after they went through their first evolution, so they could very well be higher than level than 20. Especially Lusha as she was level 19 before.
"We'll take shifts throughout the night. Govad told me that evolving takes about an hour for the first time." Lusha said standing up. "Nori you evolve first, Klyn will evolve second and I will evolve last. Klyn take the first shift then wake me up for the second once Nori evolves. Shizuka will take the last shift once we all are evolved."
"Sounds good, I can't wait to rip this dungeon a new one. I'm gonna kill that fucking old geezer once we get out of here." Nori said walking over.
Sitting down, Nori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A magic circle formed under her, strands of mana started to wrap around Nori, eventually forming a cocoon.
Seeing this Lusha looked over at Shizuka. "Let's get some sleep, we'll need it for tomorrow."
Nodding, Shizuka laid down on one of the 'beds' Lusha had prepared.
'Clearing this dungeon is going to be difficult.' Shizuka thought as she fell asleep.
***********************