The entrance to the cave, which houses the dungeon, appeared on one of the large plateaus not far from the starting village. It was already noticeable that the place was quite frequented, although at the moment, no visitors were there.
Amelia took the lead, announcing, "We have arrived at our destination." She opened her inventory to organize her belongings and prepare for any eventualities.
"Mao, could you take the dungeon map and note the corridors to avoid getting lost?" she asked, tossing the map to me from her inventory. "And Hiroki, could you keep an eye on Mao? He tends to get himself into tricky situations," she added with a smile.
Hiroki looked at Amelia, a bit perplexed by the idea of staying behind, but he nevertheless agreed after a brief moment of reflection.
As we approached, the entrance of the cave exploded with gusts of wind that howled like ghosts before falling silent again.
The rumble emanating from the depths of the cavern created a palpable sense of anxiety, casting doubt on the exploration ahead.
"Okay, I think we're ready!" exclaimed Amelia cheerfully, pointing towards the entrance. So, we began to enter the dungeon. The icy floor sent chills through our leather-clad feet. The walls were dry, dusty, and cracked, filled with scars. Spiderwebs scattered across the ceiling.
In the distance, the rumble could be heard along with the occasional murmurs of bats. Venturing deeper into the cave, Amelia retrieved a torch from her inventory and activated it by clicking the button that appeared near the object. In the blink of an eye, the light danced across the walls, allowing us to see the thousands of details on them.
We kept walking, and the dungeon door appeared ahead of us. "Alright, everyone, the dungeon door is right in front of us. Hiroki, is there anything we should watch out for in the dungeon?" asked Amelia.
"Hiroki took the map from my hands and pointed to certain places on it.'' The Dungeon has several traps hidden everywhere. We'll need to try to avoid them, as most are very dangerous and could easily kill us'' exclaimed Hiroki, looking at us. ''I've never been to this Dungeon before, so I don't exactly know where they are, but I should be able to spot them'' he finished.
I stared at Hiroki. He must surely have a skill that helps him spot traps. It's a skill that must be very useful to avoid all sorts of danger. I hope he'll demonstrate it during our time in this dungeon.
Speaking of this dungeon, it's organized like a labyrinth with several separate rooms that can contain treasures or monsters. Finishing a dungeon can take several hours, which is why we need to prepare well in advance.
As I mentioned earlier, the dungeon is ruled by sand goblins. They become especially dangerous at night. We believed that the boss of the dungeon is a sand goblin chief, much stronger than an ordinary goblin.
We approached the large metal double door. I took out my bronze sword from my inventory, and Amelia and Hiroki did the same. Our team was well-organized, and we placed our hands on the door to open it:
((
[SAND GOBLIN DUNGEON]
(PLAYERS REQUIRED 3/3)
DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?
[YES] [NO]
))
We then clicked on the 'Yes' button to continue. Just after clicking, the giant metal doors opened with a loud creak, echoing throughout the cave. A strong change in pressure pushed a musty wind in our direction that seemed to be centuries old.
We advanced and the door closed behind us. The room we were in was made of old stones adorned with strange glyphs. The room is divided into three paths.
I looked at the map. ''We should go left, this path leads much more quickly to the boss's room.'' I announced to my group.
''Alright, follow me then and keep telling us the way, Mao," said Amelia, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.
Continuing along the path, Hiroki stopped us. "Use a light arrow and shoot it towards the ground in that direction," said Hiroki, pointing where to shoot.
''Why should I do that? There's absolutely nothing in front of us." exclaimed Amelia, confused by Hiroki's request. Hiroki turned to Amelia. "Ahead of us, there's a trap that could shred us into a thousand pieces in seconds.'' said Hiroki seriously.
"Alright, I'll try, but it's still annoying that I have to waste a light arrow on this," she then said, both disappointed and reluctant.
She then shot a light arrow in the direction, and without any time to react, the walls closed with spikes crushing the skeletal skulls of past travelers. ''Oh my God! We would have been really dead if we had passed through here!'' cried Amelia, surprised and shocked by the trap's violence.
"We should take another path; we can go this way." I said, pointing the way to go.
=== Two hours later ===
As we continued along our route, sobbing could be heard in the darkness. I took advantage of the opportunity to use my skills to find the source:
[AURA VISION ACTIVATED]
In the distance, a whitish aura of a monster appeared, moving toward our direction. "There's a monster heading towards us," I shouted to my team, waving the torch towards the creature to get a better view.
A figure filled with sorrow came into view. It was the ghost of a woman with black hair. Her face was bloodied, her eyes without pupils.
))
[GUIDE]
Level 3 - 5
<
[Description] Ghosts are floating, transparent entities, remnants of past lives haunted by deep sorrow. In search of vengeance or redemption, these wandering apparitions roam in darkness, seeking to soothe their eternal torment.
[Loots] Plasma ...
))
"Amelia! Shoot a light arrow at the ghost, that's its weakness!" shouted Hiroki, drawing his sword from its sheath. He assumed a combat stance and waited for Amelia's arrow.
"Alright, I'm shooting it now! Be ready!" she shouted back to Hiroki. She grabbed an arrow and shot it towards the ghost's body, and suddenly the ghost's form was no longer transparent. The explosion of light elicited a startled cry from the ghostly woman.
Hiroki wasted no time as he ran towards the ghost, swiftly cutting it in two with his sword, causing white plasma to spill onto the dusty ground. "Alright, we should be close to the boss's door now." exclaimed Hiroki as he sheathed his sword back into its black scabbard.
I took a moment to analyze the map, confirming that we were indeed nearing the boss's door. "Yes, we just need to keep going a little further, and we'll be right at the door we're looking for." I said to Hiroki.
We then headed at the boss room, hoping to encounter no danger for our next battle.