I looked around in confusion at the large circular area. The floor was covered in thick, black dust and dead trees were scattered everywhere, making for a forest you'd see in a horror movie. I could tell this was a dungeon tower because of the blue translucent barrier surrounding the forest in a large dome. Past the dome, only mist could be seen and no land continued past the perimeter.
This was the usual setup for a dungeon tower floor but smaller, which left me unsure of what I had just walked into. Dungeons that occurred in a section with a main dungeon tower didn't appear until later stages, so why was one in Havenbrook?
I knew this was a strange occurrence when I saw the doors, but something like this was beyond just strange. This was placed here for someone to find and explore. With me receiving 'To be determined' when my character was first created for my class and inherent skills, I began to have suspicions if this was intentional or not.
"Was I always meant to find this place?" I asked as I mulled over the possibilities. "Maybe my class was determined when my character was first created but was left empty to encourage me to explore Havenbrook more to find answers and eventually this place. They must have put this dungeon out here so only someone who was stuck in Havenbrook could find it."
As I was thinking of PTP Industries' intentions with this, I suddenly heard a high-pitched growl up ahead accompanied by the system's voice.
[Welcome, Perseus, to the Drifter's Dungeon. This dungeon is only one floor but has many waves of monsters. The Drifter's Dungeon is a trial dungeon where the more waves you complete, the higher the reward you receive. Do not worry. In case of player death, you will not be restarted on your Path to Power. After every successful wave, you will be able to rest for 5 minutes and prepare yourself for the next wave which is an increased difficulty. Good luck!]
[Initiating Wave 1 of Drifter's Dungeon.]
I quickly took in the system's words and prepared myself for battle.
[Wave 1 commence]
Immediately after the notification, I could make out several small bodies of what looked like imps running toward me. They had red-scaled skin and curved horns that sprouted from their heads. Thankfully, they weren't winged imps because that would be quite tricky to deal with since I only had a sword as a weapon.
Imps were a lower-class demon that usually attacked players in large groups. The majority have wings, but adolescents don't grow them until they reach adulthood.
As the imps approached me quickly, I heard their high-pitched snarling and evil laughter. After fighting the dark knights, I had gained some confidence, so I wasn't as nervous as before and my head was clear.
"Come to papa," I said with a slight smile as the nearest imp lunged at me.
*CLANG*
I intercepted its sharp claws with my new sword and repelled it easily behind the horde with my strength. Many more were now lunging at me, so I deftly took a step to the side and avoided their attacks. With my agility, dodging them was quite frankly a piece of cake.
*SWOOSH*
I swung at the nearest imp and easily severed its torso in half from its shoulder down to the opposite side of its abdomen.
*SCRREECH*
The imp screamed in pain but soon succumbed to its injuries and its severed body fell limp and lifeless.
[1 Adolescent Demon Imp killed. Perseus has gained EXP.]
My smile broadened. If I could earn experience while completing this trial, then I could last a lot longer if I continued to level up.
The hoard was around 8 in size. Seeing their fallen comrade, the other imps began to lunge at me with rage, making their attacks less coordinated and sloppy.
Due to their broken attack patterns, I made quick work of the rest with my superior agility and dexterity.
[Player Persues has leveled up 1 time to level 5 after defeating 8 level 5 Adolescent Demon Imps.]
[Defeated imps have dropped x1 imp claw and x3 imp scales.]
[Player Perseus has completed Wave 1 of Drifter's Dungeon. Player Perseus has received one HP potion, one Stamina potion, and one Mana potion for recovery. There will be a 5-minute rest period before the next wave.]
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Despite not spending too much stamina, my nerves were still there. I sat against a dead tree and pulled out an HP potion from my inventory to recover the 2 points I had lost from the dark knights as well as the additional 2 points due to the bleeding from the wound. I left the other two potions in my inventory since I didn't need them yet.
[Monster materials and bodies detected. Would you like to fuse them with Drifter's Weapon?]
I debated if I should fuse the materials or not. The bodies were a given since I didn't know how to dismember them cleanly but the materials could be sold after a later date to earn credits or for the in-game currency: coins.
After debating, I chose to fuse everything with Drifter's Weapon. If my weapon could become stronger, it would help me pass more waves and earn greater rewards. I didn't know the value of what rewards I would potentially earn, but a unique dungeon instance like this would not cough up anything cheap.
[Initiating fuse process. Time left: 00:02:00]
I forgot about the time for the fusing to complete, so thankfully it will be finished before the next wave. This means I probably won't be able to fuse a lot during each resting period.
While Drifter's Weapon fused with the demon imp bodies and materials, I distributed my 4 free stat points from leveling up. A normal player's system automatically distributes 1 free stat point in line with their class and leaves 1 stat point for what they want to choose. This is why my skill, Unbound, is so good because it removes the class restriction and gives me double the stat points.
With my 4 points, I put 2 into Strength and 1 into Agility and Dexterity, leaving my status panel like this:
— — —
Status:
{Level} — 5
{EXP} — 2%
{HP: 40/40} {Mana: 0 PTS}
{Strength: 6} {Agility: 5}
{Vitality: 2} {Dexterity: 5}
{Stamina: 3} {Intelligence: 1}
(0 free stat points)
— — —
Once my sword was done fusing, it floated back to my hand. The only significant change this time was that the hilt had become a deep, blood-red that matched the skin of the imps.
— — —
{Loadout} — [Drifter's Weapon: +1 Strength | +2 Agility | +2 Stamina | -27% damage from Dark Mana attacks/debuffs]
— — —
Now, I had 7 Strength, 7 Agility, and 5 Stamina in total. I welcomed the flood of new power with open arms and rested for a couple more minutes until the next wave.
[Initiating Wave 2 of Drifter's Dungeon.]
I stood up and stretched while the wave was starting.
[Wave 2 commence.]
Deep, guttural roars spread through the forest and 3 orcs wearing animal pelts slowly ran toward me with large wooden clubs in their hands.
They were all over 2 and a half meters tall with large tusks and bright green skin. Every time they roared, a fountain of spit sprayed everywhere which heavily grossed me out.
Once they had arrived within 3 meters of me, I took off directly at the orc in the center of the group. Despite their size, they were quick to react and swung down their clubs with immense strength. But I also was pretty strong.
*BOOM*
Deflecting one club with my sword and another with my free arm, I dodged the last incoming club from the orc in the center and jumped over it with surprising acrobatic ability. In the air, I twisted my body and lashed out with my dark sword.
*ROAR*
A deep cut was made into the orc's neck and dark green blood sprayed all over its shoulder as it tried to cover its wound. Once I landed on the ground, I ran forward and turned to survey the impact of my attack.
As I expected, a simple slash wasn't effective enough to take an orc down. They had a basic regeneration ability that healed their wounds slightly over time. My attack had taken a lot of its HP, but it wouldn't be enough to kill it.
The other two orcs roared in frustration at the fact their attacks were ineffective, which caused their comrade to get hurt. They quickly chased after me while the other orc stood back until it recovered.
"I'm not going to let you lick your wounds in the back like a pussy," I said preparing to intercept the two charging orcs' attacks.
Orcs were semi-intelligent monsters especially full-grown adults like these three, so they adopted a different approach in their attacks this time.
*BOOM*
Once they neared me, they both raised their foot and stomped the ground. It would have disrupted my movement, but with them being so slow, I saw it coming and jumped to avoid it.
"I'll give it to you guys," I said with a smirk. "You're giving me a good warm-up."
After their stomp, they were beginning to charge again but once I landed, my body turned into a blur from their perspective, confusing them before it was too late.
*ROARghhh*
Before the two orcs could react, a roar of pain came from behind them, where I had attacked the injured orc before it could heal. To effectively kill an orc, you need to either keep injuring it so it can't recover in time before it loses its HP or destroy one of its vital organs.
I choose the second option.
*Shlick*
I pulled out my sword from the eye socket of the now-dead orc and turned to face the other two, who were livid.
But before I could go on the attack, a blast of red energy spread from the two orcs' bodies, and their eyes turned a glowing red. Due to the death of their comrade, they had gone into the famous Orc Rage, which was an active skill that activated when their rage was uncontrollable. It is a buff skill that sacrifices HP every second until the source of their rage is destroyed.
I didn't expect to run into any skills so soon in the dungeon, but I quickly adopted a more careful approach. Orc Rage only boosted their strength but it was still incredibly dangerous because now they could kill me in one shot.
*ROOOOOAAARRR*
Both orcs let out a ground-shaking roar and charged toward me, making divots in the ground with every step.
"Let's see what you've got."
I took off toward the two charging behemoths of rage.
*BOOOOM*
Two giant clubs struck the ground behind me with incredible strength, nearly knocking me off balance, but I was able to get past the attack. Before the two geen orcs could react, my blade flicked out toward their wrists and severed their club-holding hands cleanly. But orcs weren't harmless without their clubs, so I quickly broke off from their position, nearly getting swatted by a fist on the way out.
*ROOAARR*
Both orcs ignored the pain of losing a hand and quickly charged toward me with their fists raised, ready to attack me with whatever they had.
"Sorry, but the only advantage you guys had is now gone," I said, also running back toward them.
What I meant by advantage wasn't their overwhelming strength. This was because it was countered by my speed. By advantage, I meant their reach. Both orcs had a huge wingspan and with their clubs, they could reach nearly 3 meters away from their body. But now, without their clubs, I could easily snake through their attacks and injure them.
The next few minutes went by in a blur. I repeatedly injured them near their vitals and they quickly bled out due to the Orc Rage skill and their wounds.
*BOOM*
Both bodies fell at the same time, kicking up a cloud of black soil from the dead forest.
"Phew," I said, wiping my forehead. "I broke a sweat there. An orc's stamina and vitality are no joke."