Entering the dungeon alone is suicidal unless you are some sort of genius. Raven pride blinded her, and learned it first hand in this, her third dive... she had been fighting monster non stop since she dropped into the aquatic cavern.
"Aaaah!"
Raven's screams echoed through the dungeon. The place was humid and cold, she had turned off her thoughts and resolved to keep fighting forward, she felt humiliated, and also she was tired of being weak. The caves of Undir were a scenario of the first level filled with aquatic monsters.
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Raven staggered backward, panting as the hulking crab's shattered shell sank into the shallow water. Her muscles ached, and her breath came in ragged gasps, each one burning in her throat. The dungeon was relentless, a constant test of her endurance, and the damp, cold air seemed to seep into her bones, making every movement feel heavier. She glanced at the message floating before her eyes, acknowledging the small, unsatisfying boost of experience points. It was progress, but not enough. Never enough.
Since everyone believed she was a good for nothing, and logic dictated it was impossible to challenge this place alone, she just decided to ignore the logic and flip the middle finger to the world, this was her struggle "Damn it all!" She muttered to herself, forcing her legs to push forward. The waterlogged cavern was a twisted maze of slick rocks and murky pools, each step a precarious dance between solid footing and slipping into the unknown. The bioluminescent moss clinging to the walls cast an eerie, greenish glow, barely enough to see by but enough to hint at lurking dangers just beyond her vision.
She heard one of those disgusting critters crawl forward to her, she took a battle stance and dodged it when the eel launched toward her.
[Voracious eel lvl1]
The creature made a weird sound towards her and then emanated dangerous energy from its body, it's body crackled with thunderous sounds and pressed its attack... again and again and again, Raven danced across the slippery rocks, the creature charged once again its maw opening wide to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Raven leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding its bite, but she lost her footing on the wet rocks, stumbling into the waist-deep water. And then... a world of pain engulfed her.
The creature's electricity struck at her illuminating the room with the power produced inside its body, Raven barely consciously used her spell.
"『Fire Butterfly Swarm』" She muttered in agonizing pain.
The familiar crimson butterflies burst forth, their fiery glow illuminating the cavern as they swarmed around the eel, searing its slimy flesh. The eel writhed and thrashed, its agonized screeches echoing through the dungeon as it fought against the fiery assault. Raven took the opening, plunging her dagger into the creature's head, ending its struggle.
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She wiped the blood from her eyes, at this point she was unsure if it was her own blood or it was from the monsters, she had been swarmed by monsters, crabs, eels, and even some weird fish with bones in their heads that tried to ram her. Between the remains of the eel, she found a shiny card.
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She grabbed it and saved it in her pocket, then with shacky legs she got up and kept walking through the tunnels, the water that rained on her from the roof was cold, and help her remember she was still alive.
"Crap! I'm gonna finish this!"
The cavern ahead was darker, the water deeper. She could see faint movements beneath the surface, shadows slithering in the murky depths. Raven's instincts screamed at her to turn back, to rest, and get assistance. But that wasn't an option... not when she was this close to breaking through. The humiliation she felt earlier, Gerald's taunts, the hero's dismissive attitude... all of it fueled her stubborn resolve to press on.
As she moved forward, her foot slipped on the wet stone, and she caught herself just in time to avoid plunging into the deeper waters below. The faint sound of rushing water echoed from somewhere ahead, a waterfall hidden within the dungeon's twisting corridors. The sound masked the approach of something large, slithering just beneath the surface. A ripple spread through the water near her feet, and Raven's heart pounded in her chest.
Suddenly, a massive serpent erupted from the water, it didn't seem to have scales, but it was disgusting. The creature was at least twice her size, its eyes gleaming with something more terrible than intellect, hunger.
[Defformed Lurking Hydra lvl1 (Rare)]
The sight of the hydra sent a jolt of fear through her. She knew this creature wasn't like the others she had faced so far, it was obviously a rarity, one of those monsters of this cave that never showed their face. The hydra's heads moved independently, and it hissed with a venomous, almost mocking tone, circling her as if savoring the moment before striking, for the monster screamed free meal.
The hydra's heads snapped forward, fangs dripping with poison, aiming directly for her throat. Raven twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike, and countered with a swift slash of her dagger. The blade surprisingly cut through the monster's skin really easily, but it recovered quickly, two heads started to form from the place where it had been cut.
"HUUUUH!?" Exclaimed annoyed and surprised at the same time the cat.
The two new heads of the monster began fighting one another as if they didn't recognize they were the same being. Raven's heart pounded in her chest as she realized the sheer stupidity of her mistake, after all cutting the heads only made the beast stronger. Her breath came in ragged gasps, and every instinct screamed at her to retreat, but there was nowhere to run, the exit gate was far away... and if she ran forward she would find the rex monster.
One of the heads lunged at her, but she evaded it and the beast's head exploded against the rock floor, throwing some of its blood to her shoulder, it stung terribly, the thing was toxic and stupid, she backed away with a swift jump just to discover how from that stump two new heads were growing back.
"AAAAH!?" She sneered with anger "That's cheating!!!"
The beast flesh was very soft, maybe that's the reason it was deformed? It wasn't a time for thinking, the now three heads of the beast began quarreling with each other, but they stopped suddenly and they all looked at Raven drooling, they were starving, starving for a dumb cat treat. The now three heads attacked her with all their might, but Raven began to dance evading every attack thrown at her, sometimes punching the heads or kicking them.
'This is no good!!' She thought, if she would be rested maybe it would be enough to properly fight this thing... she felt she could use her spell once again, but that would be a major risk, if she fainted for excessive use of magic it would be her doom. As she retreated more and more the monster began to fully emerge from water, its body mangled, and some paws were shorter than the rest, it was a sorry sight, but it would be the reason a monster like this would spawn on a first-level scenario.
'Now, do it idiot, or die!!'
When the three heads attacked at once she ducked and with a horizontal arc slash from her dagger she cut the three heads off the monster, it would have been a terrible idea because now six heads were starting to grow. But she launched herself towards the monster's body and began to stab it with fury, her life depended on it.
"Die! Die! Piece of shit!" Raven screamed in panic.
The now six heads began quarreling between them even more than before, two of the newly grown heads bit one and ripped it apart, it seemed they were confused because they were in pain and still hadn't seen the cat furiously attacking their main body. Then she smiled faintly, it seemed people weren't so wrong and she would die a pathetic death in the dungeon. As the now five remaining heads looked at her they moved faster to attack her. She touched the body of the monster where she had stabbed it.
"『Fire Butterfly Swarm』!!" She screammed.
A terrible headache hit her once the spell activated, she had depleted all her magical energies, and felt very weak, as if she were suddenly very sick. This was her end. The monster began to burst into fire and every head began to spit fire as if they were many hungry dragons...
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She didn't hear the sound of her victory, as she fell alongside the hydra remnants to the water infested with monsters. She was unconscious.