Upon entering the dungeon for the second time, despite it being only my second visit, we were greeted by a familiar environment with an immersive darkness, illuminated only by the faint flames of torches on the stone walls. The persistent silence added an air of mystery and oppression to the place, intensifying the feeling that we were about to face unknown dangers.
The constant silence was only broken by our footsteps and our shadows that seemed to dance as we moved forward.
As we advanced down the corridor, we reached the entrance of the first room. We decided to adopt a strategy to help my parents acclimate to the tense atmosphere of the dungeon. We chose to split the goblins and keep them occupied. While doing this, my parents were responsible for dealing with one goblin.
As my father prepared to face the goblin, my mother rushed towards the goblin without much hesitation. Using her bat, she started attacking its head. With just three hits, she stunned the goblin, leaving it vulnerable. Taking advantage of the opening created by my mother and wasting no time, my father made a decisive move and defeated the goblin.
Her confidence grew even more as she realized that combat wasn't as intimidating as it seemed. She decided to take on the goblins we had left occupied. The two of them split up, each taking on an enemy.
When the battle finally ceased, with all the defeated goblins lying around, we gathered in the center of the room. Worried about my parents' mental state, I approached to check on them.
"Are you both okay?"
"Hahahahahahaha, that was liberating," she exclaimed, the adrenaline from the fight still evident in her voice.
Surprised by her reaction, I took a step back, slightly disoriented by the abrupt change in atmosphere that my mother possessed.
My father chuckled softly, as if he had anticipated her reaction.
"That's why I always told you never to upset your mother."
Still a bit confused, I decided to put that aside and continue challenging the dungeon. After all, there were still plenty of monsters to fight and much to explore.
We decided to follow the same strategy until the fourth room, as the number of enemies began to increase, making it more challenging to just dodge and defend.
In the following rooms, different mobs started appearing, such as goblins attacking with arrows, causing damage and exploiting our difficulty in detecting ranged attacks. There were also sneaky and silent goblins that often disrupted battles with their stealthy approach, taking advantage of our lack of experience.
Nevertheless, the damage they caused wasn't enough to stop us from progressing. Over time, eliminating goblin after goblin made the fights easier. With fewer enemies to deal with simultaneously, we were able to pay more attention to our surroundings and enemies, reducing the number of times we were hit.
Livia took on the goblin archers while Alexandra protected her from stealthy attacks, allowing us to catch our breath by keeping the goblin archers occupied.
After each conflict, we used moments of rest to tend to our wounds and reflect on our strategies. As time passed, the difficulty increased, but so did our strength and experience, making us better equipped to face growing challenges.
However, even with our notable progress, we reached a limit in the last room of the first floor. We faced such a large number of enemies that it became almost impossible to deal with all of them at once. During the battle, fatigue and the injuries accumulated from previous battles began to take effect.
Small errors started to emerge, attacks we could usually avoid began to hit us. After eliminating half of the goblins, we were defeated.
After being expelled from the dungeon, we found ourselves in the infirmary. Despite the fatigue and the loss of some "experience" and loot, the result was good. We emerged stronger than when we entered, and we managed to obtain a good amount of loot.
After resting and having a bite to eat, we decided to try challenging the dungeon again. Learning from our mistakes, this time we made it to the second floor.
The atmosphere remained eerie and mysterious, but this time we didn't find ourselves in a dark room. Instead, we were in the middle of a forest. Although it provided better visibility, the forest was illuminated only by the moonlight.
Our first encounter was with a group of three water elves. Though more challenging than goblins, we managed to defeat them due to their smaller number. We decided to continue exploring the area and encountered another group of four elves. Unfortunately, we weren't able to acquire the ability to use their magic.
However, our luck didn't last long. We spotted two wisps, but lacking means of attack to deal with them, we decided to flee the dungeon.
After that, we decided to rest and attempt Rick's dungeon at least once to accumulate a good amount of loot before stopping challenging the dungeons for the day.
A dungeon created by Rick offers challenges and a difficulty not very different from mine. We often discuss our dungeon configurations, comparing differences and results to decide on the best setup for our dungeons.
Despite that, the format of the dungeon, the mobs, the loot, and the environment, though different, each have their own charms and advantages.
Another difference between our dungeons is that Rick doesn't use mobs like the wisp that require a special form of attack to be defeated. This allowed us to explore his dungeon for a longer time, almost completing the second floor. However, we were expelled from the dungeon because the time we took to explore and defeat monsters reached its limit.
While we were resting, I discovered the reason behind my mother's change in attitude and their ease in accepting the situation.
During high school, my mother used to be a troublemaker, but when she started college, she began to "calm down."
As for their ease in accepting the situation, during their childhood, monsters appeared, and they lived through and survived the chaotic times these creatures brought. Because of that, they were raised to handle the situation if the worst were to happen to them.
After agreeing to meet up another day, we collectively decided to give ourselves a well-deserved break. Challenging the dungeons might be rewarding, but it's also undeniably tiring. Despite the fact that only about 3 hours have passed in the real world since we began our dungeon exploration, the experience leaves us drained.
Alexandra managed to create the dungeon app, but due to our fatigue, we opted to postpone working on it and promoting it to a later date.
As we headed towards our resting area, Luna came up to chat about our experiences. Although she didn't actively join us in tackling the dungeons, she observed our journeys through them and insisted that I promise to take her along next time.
One thing that struck me during our dungeon challenges was that Alexandra could have easily handled the situation with the drunkards on her own without breaking a sweat. I realized this when I witnessed her dispatching five goblins single-handedly, making it look almost effortless.
Reflecting on the way Alexandra dealt with those goblins, Luna's intervention appeared rather serene and composed. It seems wise not to provoke Alexandra too much.
I made a separate room for each person in the master's area.
Each room was designed with the preferences of each individual in mind. After everyone went to their respective rooms, I collapsed onto the bed, overwhelmed by fatigue. Only three hours later did I wake up, feeling hungry.
Realizing that everyone was tired and exhausted, I decided to eat and prepare something for them. After doing so and taking a shower, I returned to my room to rest a bit more.