A few days had gone by. Hunter stood in front of the tier 16 dungeon door before him and braced himself before stepping inside.
[Objectives set!]
{Kill 200 undead [000/200]
Kill 200 skeleton knights [000/200]
Kill 150 armoured knights [000/150]
Kill 50 mages [00/50]
Kill 20 royal guards [00/20]
Kill the King [0/1]
Kill the Dungeon Master [0/1]}
"It's a little weird how the Dungeon Master isn't the king. I thought kings were at the top of the hierarchy in most kingdoms," said Hunter as he observed the screen before him.
[There are instances when the Queen is the primary ruler, even with the existence of a king. That can be identified as a monarchy]
"I see."
The dungeon Hunter found himself in had no sky or light from above. It was built like a large cave. Inside it were old houses from the late 1600s, wells and even stables. Hunter had found himself exploring a Kingdom Dungeon, one of the rarest dungeons to appear in his country.
The buildings were old and dilapidated, as expected from a worn out Kingdom from the old ages, such as this one. The roads were built from cobblestone and had lanterns lighting the area up.
Hunter traversed through the fallen kingdom and took the chance to observe the area. The air was dense and according to the system, if he stayed any longer than three days, he would begin to lose oxygen.
The road he walked on was coarsely but it was somewhat well taken care of as well, despite the fact that it might date back to the early 1600s. There were lanterns that hung on the street, along with broken trapdoors on the pavement, leading to a sewer system below.
"They were pretty advanced, weren't they?" Hunter inquired.
[Indeed they were. This was once the kingdom of Sovereignty, a place long forgotten by human innovation and technology. It was a prosperous and fruitful kingdom. All it took to destroy it was one little plague]
"Well, alternative medicine wasn't a thing during that time. It's what's going to kill us humans when the apocalypse comes."
Hunter continued traversing through the city, finding old farms with dead grass, crops and the bones of different animals. One animal in particular was a cow, which surprised him because it had 3 horns instead of the standard 2.
He quickly paid it no mind and continued walking until he came across a castle. This was where the challenge awaited him. Hunter stood in front of the tall, rusty metal gate.
After giving it a good punch, the metal gate fell and collapsed into a bunch of pieces. Hunter winced and shook his hand while System Rosana simply sighed.
Then, they made their way inside the castle. As they crossed the bridge separating the peasants from the nobles, they finally came across the giant castle, housing almost 50 rooms, 10 different towers and lots of enemies.
Hunter pushed the doors open and a creaking sound came from them. The castle was as big inside as it was outside. Hunter couldn't see well though because there were no lights. No matter. He opened his palm and conjured up a small flame, allowing him to create a decent light source.
Then, he began walking down the halls of the castle. The walls were creaked and the paintings hung up were slowly losing their colour.
"Hey, System Rosana, could you tell me something?" inquired Hunter.
[Of course]
"The people of this kingdom, surely some of them survived, right?"
[The kingdom of Sovereignty had large walls preventing enemies from intruding and citizens from escaping. They had everything they could ever need here, from food to mining goods.
You couldn't see the walls because their height is so great, it could mask the entire castle itself]
"Wow. So, they were basically prisoners?"
[The citizens of the kingdom had no reason to leave. Despite the size of the dungeon, the kingdom was very large, Hunter Quinn]
"I see. So--"
Before Hunter could finish his sentence, he heard a noise coming from behind. He quickly turned his head and focused on where the noise might've came from. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything.
[Perhaps putting out your fire and activating Prey Gaze will allow you to get a better visual on your enemies]
"Good idea."
Hunter closed his palm, putting out the flame, and activated his [Prey Gaze] skill. From about 10 feet away from him, he could see a skeleton knight, maybe 2, carrying shields and swords, watching him and waiting for the chance to attack.
'Skeleton knights are smarter than your average monsters. They still have the memories of their humans lives, meaning they're skilled fighters. I need to find a way to quickly kill them...'
[Hunter Quinn, do you remember that monster hunter book you read as a child? I'm certain there was a section on how to quickly and effectively kill skeletons without exhausting your energy]
Hunter's eyes lit up and a light bulb turned on in his head. He smiled at System Rosana and flexed his right hand afterwards.
"Time to see what [Claw Retraction] can do," he said as a smirk emerged on his face.
After flexing and stretching his fingers hard enough, his nails grew in size, causing some of his blood to spill out. Hunter wanted to cry. It was painful, alright. But, he'd deal with the pain for the time being.
After using [Fast Break], Hunter managed to quickly close the gap between him and the skeleton knights in the first second. In the next, he dug his claws through one of the knight's teeth straight into their vertebrae column.
That move instantly caused the bone to break, causing the skeleton knight to fall and break into different bone pieces. In the last second, Hunter performed the same technique and quickly killed the knight before it could attack.
"Phew..." Hunter sighed in relief. "That hurts...!" he added as he clutched his hand and squeezed it to express the pain he was feeling.
After pulling the claws back into his hand, he sighed and wiped the sweat off his head.
"I am never using this again," he complained to System Rosana and walked away.
[We'll see about that. Something tells me you'll need this technique again]
"Yeah, right."
{Kill 200 undead [000/200]
Kill 200 skeleton knights [002/200]
Kill 150 armoured knights [000/150]
Kill 50 mages [00/50]
Kill 20 royal guards [00/20]
Kill the King [0/1]
Kill the Dungeon Master [0/1]}
Hunter continued exploring the first floor of the dungeon castle and came across more skeleton knights along with a few undead. Both were relatively easy to deal with.
One monster in particular was giving him a problem, and that happened to be the skeleton archers, who fell under the category of skeleton knights. The archers drew their bows back and released the string, causing their arrows to shoot at a fast rate.
By using [Fast Break], Hunter was able to evade the arrows without much trouble. But, if he continued using [Prey Gaze], he would begin to bleed and he's already had enough of bleeding for the day.
He quickly hid behind a wall and checked the archers, only for them to shoot their arrows again, making him hide once more. After activating [Heightened Awareness], Hunter recieved a 360° view of the area.
'I see them!' he said to himself.
Hunter summoned his [Hellhound Chains] and coated them in spikes. After running towards the right side of the wall and making a turn to the right end of the hallway, he came across the same skeleton archers.
'This particular hallway runs at a 360° angle, meaning it doesn't matter where you run; you'll always end up in the same place.'
He spun his chains, drew them back and tossed them as hard as he could towards the archers. Unbeknownst to the chain flying towards them, the skeleton archers fell one by one as the chain went through each of their vertebrae column.
Their bones collapsed and Hunter sighed in exhaustion. "This floor doesn't end. Where the hell are the stairs?"
As he spoke, a wall opened a door behind him, leading him to a staircase that went upstairs. Inside the mysterious hall was a light source provided by torches and rocky walls.
[It appears that a hidden door has appeared. What do you want to do, Hunter Quinn?]
Hunter shrugged. "This isn't a damn RPG, System Rosana. I'm going in. Hopefully it'll lead me to the second floor," replied Hunter as he walked inside.
After entering, the door closed behind him, shutting him out from the first floor.
{Kill 200 undead [060/200]
Kill 200 skeleton knights [079/200]
Kill 150 armoured knights [000/150]
Kill 50 mages [00/50]
Kill 20 royal guards [00/20]
Kill the King [0/1]
Kill the Dungeon Master [0/1]}
{Name: Hunter Quinn
Age:17
Occupation: Dungeon Explorer and Diver/Hunter
Tier: 18
Strength: 51
Intelligence: 63
Agility: 50
Karma: 0
Active Skills:
- Black Flames - Healing
- Blend - Heightened Awareness
- Claw Retraction - Hellhound Chains
- Fast Break
Passive Skills:
- Prey Gaze
- Property Enhancer}